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Supervisors advance ordinance to create six navigation centers, remove safe-injection language for separate action
Summary
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee forwarded a twice-amended ordinance requiring the city to open six navigation centers (now to be opened within 24 months) to provide case management and housing exits; supervisors removed a safe-injection provision to be considered separately and asked the city attorney to allow conversion of existing shelters.
Supervisor David Campos introduced an ordinance that would require San Francisco to open no fewer than six "navigation centers" offering case management, mental-health and housing-exit services to move people living on the streets into permanent or transitional housing. "Navigation centers are temporary, low barrier to entry shelters that through case management and social service programs help in moving homeless people off the streets and out of encampments and into permanent housing or transitional housing," Campos said.
The committee agreed to amendments Campos offered that extend the implementation timeline from 12 months to 24 months, increase proposed site capacity from "50 to 75" to "50 to 100" residents to allow flexibility, and add explicit community-process requirements, an equitable entry plan, an equitable housing-exit plan and a sustainable housing revenue plan. Campos also said one of the centers would be a "managed alcohol shelter" offering alcohol treatment and supported housing services.
Supporters at the hearing included navigation-center operators, public-health researchers and homeless-service providers who urged the board to pair navigation centers with more housing exits and adequate staffing. Karen Gruniesen of Episcopal Community Services told the committee that "72% of the navigation center residents moved from the streets into permanent housing or a stabilization bed or a treatment bed within 88 days," and said case management and city support were essential to those outcomes.
Several supervisors pressed for funding clarity and legal feasibility. Supervisor Norman Yee said he supported navigation centers but preferred that the ordinance not include supervised-injection provisions in the same ordinance; he offered an amendment "to remove Part E, which is, lines 4 through 7 on page 4." Campos and other sponsors agreed to separate the safe-injection topic and to introduce a separate ordinance so the navigation-center package could proceed.
The committee also directed the city attorney to draft language clarifying that existing city shelters could be converted into navigation centers where appropriate. Supervisor London Breed moved the package of amendments (including Campos' changes and the shelter-conversion language). The committee voted to forward the twice-amended ordinance to the full Board with a recommendation (action taken without objection).
The ordinance now goes to the full Board of Supervisors; the committee did not record a roll-call vote in committee, and the full Board will consider the ordinance and the separate supervised-injection proposal in subsequent proceedings.
