Supervisors hear pleas as newcomer families sleep on San Francisco streets; departments point to limited capacity and short-term vouchers

San Francisco supervisors pressed city departments Tuesday over rising family homelessness among newcomers, receiving firsthand testimony from families and faith groups and hearing agency officials outline limited immediate capacity and planned programmatic changes.

The hearing, called by Supervisor Asha Safai, focused on what she described as a ‘‘growing crisis’’ of newcomer families ‘‘sleeping on the streets’’ and the need for better data and coordination. ‘‘We need real solutions, not band aids,’’ Safai said as she opened the meeting and urged departments to provide metrics and clear pathways out of homelessness.

Jorge Rivas, director of the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs (OSEA), told the committee that while partner organizations such as the school district and legal providers show rising newcomer enrollments, ‘‘there's very limited quantitative data to support this trend due to the city data collection processes.’’ He described OSEA’s Immigrant Support Hub as an online resource list and said OSEA is piloting hosted housing programs and has an agreement in development with the University of San Francisco to use some vacant dorm space over…