HSH director reports outreach gains, faster voucher lease-up and pilot placements as waitlists shrink
October 19, 2023 | San Francisco City, San Francisco County, California
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Executive Director Shereen McSpadden opened the Homelessness Oversight Commission's Oct. 19 special meeting with a report covering outreach, housing placements, vouchers and shelter operations.
McSpadden said outreach engagements increased to 2,775 and coordinated-entry assessments reached 1,149 in August; she emphasized these counts are assessments rather than a tally of people newly experiencing homelessness. The coordinated-entry redesign committee, seated in August 2023, includes 24 community stakeholders (about 65% with lived experience) and two city staff tasked with implementing reforms to improve transparency, standardization and training.
On placements, McSpadden said the Street-to-Home pilot moved into full implementation after a June test; as of Oct. 1 staff had made 18 placements and 17 remained stably housed. The program focuses on fast, low-barrier moves from the street to permanent units, typically taking about one to two weeks from outreach to move-in.
The department highlighted faster-than-average emergency housing voucher lease-up in San Francisco: a median 57 days from issuance to lease in the city versus a 96-day U.S. median, and a higher 180-day lease-up share (77% in San Francisco vs. 64% nationwide).
Shelter updates included a domestic-violence hotel voucher program launched with St. Vincent de Paul; the Journey Home temporary placement program (short 1'day stays for people preparing for travel) launched Sept. 25 and was still taking referrals; and Hospitality House was extended as a 24/7 access site. HSH reported a shelter inventory of 3,117 beds with roughly 91% occupancy and a lower shelter waitlist (377 as of Sept. 26).
Commissioners pressed staff for more granular eviction and provider-level data. McSpadden said the department will provide names and portfolio sizes to the commission next month and noted the department partners with Eviction Defense Collaborative and uses SFE RAP and Prop C funding for prevention. She also confirmed a departmental practice of roughly 30 days for coroner's holds on belongings while noting the practice is under review as a possible process-improvement area.
The commission acknowledged staffing and provider-capacity constraints as drivers of variability in outreach counts and emphasized the need to scale provider capacity before expanding labor-intensive pilots.
The meeting closed with commissioners thanking staff for the progress and urging additional demographic and provider-level reporting at the next meeting.
McSpadden said outreach engagements increased to 2,775 and coordinated-entry assessments reached 1,149 in August; she emphasized these counts are assessments rather than a tally of people newly experiencing homelessness. The coordinated-entry redesign committee, seated in August 2023, includes 24 community stakeholders (about 65% with lived experience) and two city staff tasked with implementing reforms to improve transparency, standardization and training.
On placements, McSpadden said the Street-to-Home pilot moved into full implementation after a June test; as of Oct. 1 staff had made 18 placements and 17 remained stably housed. The program focuses on fast, low-barrier moves from the street to permanent units, typically taking about one to two weeks from outreach to move-in.
The department highlighted faster-than-average emergency housing voucher lease-up in San Francisco: a median 57 days from issuance to lease in the city versus a 96-day U.S. median, and a higher 180-day lease-up share (77% in San Francisco vs. 64% nationwide).
Shelter updates included a domestic-violence hotel voucher program launched with St. Vincent de Paul; the Journey Home temporary placement program (short 1'day stays for people preparing for travel) launched Sept. 25 and was still taking referrals; and Hospitality House was extended as a 24/7 access site. HSH reported a shelter inventory of 3,117 beds with roughly 91% occupancy and a lower shelter waitlist (377 as of Sept. 26).
Commissioners pressed staff for more granular eviction and provider-level data. McSpadden said the department will provide names and portfolio sizes to the commission next month and noted the department partners with Eviction Defense Collaborative and uses SFE RAP and Prop C funding for prevention. She also confirmed a departmental practice of roughly 30 days for coroner's holds on belongings while noting the practice is under review as a possible process-improvement area.
The commission acknowledged staffing and provider-capacity constraints as drivers of variability in outreach counts and emphasized the need to scale provider capacity before expanding labor-intensive pilots.
The meeting closed with commissioners thanking staff for the progress and urging additional demographic and provider-level reporting at the next meeting.
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