San Francisco supervisors press agencies for faster shelter rollout as HSOC outlines coordinated response to encampments

San Francisco supervisors pressed city agencies on Feb. 28 for faster, clearer plans to expand shelter and service capacity after a detailed presentation on the Healthy Streets Operation Center's (HSOC) efforts to coordinate encampment responses across departments.

Chair Supervisor Rafael Mandelmann opened the hearing by framing homelessness as a crisis driven in part by state and federal failures and said the purpose of the session was to get a clearer accounting of the city's current response and timelines for expansion. He asked departments to explain what neighborhoods he and other supervisors represent will receive and when.

Sam Dodge of Public Works, an HSOC participant, described HSOC as a central coordination hub at the Department of Emergency Management that brings together public works, outreach teams, police, health staff and other partners to share data, dispatch coordinated responses and deploy 'hot-spot' crews. Dodge cited commonly used estimates—about 7,500 people counted at a point in time, and more than 20,000 people who experience homelessness in the county over a year—and said HSOC emphasizes 'leading with care and housing.

Commander David Lazar of the San Francisco Police Department said outreach officers receive weekly training (including Narcan and de-escalation), and that HSOC has consolidated 311 and other calls so agencies are responding in a single lane rather than duplicating effort. He told the committee HSOC has reduced 311 backlogs and improved response times.

Dr. Navina Baba of Public Health outlined mobile health interventions: weekly care-coordination meetings targeting high-priority individuals, outreach health fairs with testing and Narcan training, and expansion of a LEAD-based diversion program that refers eligible people to a Community Assessment Service Center (CASC).

Jeff Kositzky, director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), said HSH manages the encampment resolution team and reported operational results including recent encampment resolutions and placements into shelters and navigation centers. He described a pipeline of additional capacity the department is pursuing: he told supervisors the city is working to open hundreds of additional shelter beds over the coming months and to lease permanent units in the short term, and he said the mayor's office has a goal to add roughly 1,000 more beds overall.

Supervisors pressed for specifics. Several members said the pace of openings for navigation centers and transitional-age-youth (TAY) facilities has been too slow; Supervisor Ronan pointed to a budgeted TAY navigation center that had not opened despite funding, and asked for concrete timelines and site locations. Kositzky said staff are pursuing multiple sites and that some promising locations have been delayed by operating-cost concerns or legal issues; he also said some small, short-lived sites are not cost-effective compared with larger, longer-term facilities.

Supervisor Peskin challenged departments on site selection and transparency, including a pending 88 Broadway project and other proposals he said had been stalled. Kositzky said the department evaluates sites for long-term viability and operating cost; he also defended the point-in-time count process, saying San Francisco contracts with an independent firm (ASR) and uses multipliers and data from shelters, jails and hospitals to produce the count. "I would rather the public be confident that the data is correct," Kositzky said.

Supervisors also sought better metrics for HSOC work: what outreach contacts were made, which staff performed outreach (health versus enforcement), what offers were made and how many people accepted placements, and whether tent reductions represent improved outcomes or merely displacement. Commander Lazar said the SFPD policy is to prioritize medical assessment first, then attempt to connect individuals to navigation centers or shelters via HSOC; if a bed is available and the person accepts, police do not issue a citation and allow the person to keep belongings. If a person refuses and no shelter is available, Lazar said the city cannot lawfully enforce illegal lodging under the 9th Circuit precedent arising from Boise.

Advocates with the Coalition on Homelessness and a UC Berkeley researcher urged the committee to limit enforcement and to expand safe, organized alternatives. Coalition presenters said their survey and other data show high rates of police encounters, citations, and property loss among people experiencing homelessness, and they recommended federal best-practice steps for encampment resolution (advance notice, sustained outreach and community involvement) and the use of sanctioned interim encampments or tiny-home villages when shelter capacity is insufficient.

Public comment reflected the range of views across neighborhoods: some residents urged faster and stronger enforcement and immediate shelter openings; many advocates and service providers described property loss, medical risks and trauma from sweeps and urged safer interim options, more bathrooms and storage, and better continuity of care — especially after psychiatric hospitalization or substance-use treatment.

On procedure, the committee agreed to continue agenda item 2 (coordination of homeless services, including Welfare & Institutions Code section 5150 procedures) to March 14 so the mental-health-focused portion of the review can be heard in depth. Chair Mandelmann took the continuation motion without objection.

What happens next: departments told the committee they are pursuing multiple site options, expanding outreach and data systems (an on-line by-name navigation and entry system HSH says already includes thousands of people), and proposing an emergency ordinance to speed facility activation. Several supervisors said they will return with follow-up questions and asked the departments for a written list of proposed sites and a clearer timeline for the promised beds.

The hearing underscored a central dilemma that ran throughout the day: supervisors want urgent action and local site-level commitments, while departments advised caution about short-term placements that require heavy capital and operating expenses. Advocates pushed the committee to reduce criminalization and create safer interim options while the city scales shelter and housing.