HSH director reports improved placements, low PSH evictions and ongoing shelter bottlenecks

Executive Director Shereen McSpadden told the Homelessness Oversight Commission on Aug. 30 that outreach and placement activity remained steady and that formal evictions from permanent supportive housing (PSH) are low.

McSpadden said HSH recorded 2,188 outreach engagements and 992 coordinated entry assessments in July. Housing placements in July totaled 181, and the department has issued about 991 emergency housing vouchers to date, with roughly 650 households moved into housing so far. McSpadden said PSH eviction filings and removals remain a small fraction of households: of 9,046 households served in site‑based PSH last year, 678 received written notices, 155 unlawful detainer filings were made and 110 households were evicted — an eviction rate McSpadden reported as about 1.22 percent.

Commissioners urged the department to treat those eviction numbers with caution. Commissioner Joaquin Guerrero and others asked for more granular data on so‑called “constructive” evictions and on households that relinquish units when threatened with eviction. Commissioner Christine Evans asked whether legal costs embedded in a large renewal contract for a property manager called THC could be driving aggressive eviction practices; McSpadden said the higher legal line items cover lease negotiations and other legal functions beyond evictions and that the department will provide deeper information.

The report also flagged an operational challenge: of HSH’s portfolio the department said occupancy was about 91.5 percent, with roughly 840 vacancies, 282 of which were available for referral. McSpadden and staff said many offline units are either undergoing routine turnover work (janitorial/cleaning) or require longer maintenance repairs; commissioners requested that the department split those categories in future reports to show the scale and typical timelines for “janitorial” versus “maintenance” vacancies.

On shelters, McSpadden said the adult shelter reservation system remains active but has early‑stage problems: on Aug. 28 the wait list held 447 people and 39 people had received placements that month. She said the youth hotel voucher program opened in August and a survivor‑of‑domestic‑violence voucher program will launch in September. The department is also preparing RFPs for shelter meals, transportation and advocacy services.

McSpadden said HSH is preparing to bring larger contracts to the commission for early vetting beginning in November and emphasized the department’s shift from counting outputs to tracking outcomes. She said the department will provide templates and technical assistance so commissioners can judge contracts by measures such as housing stability and service quality rather than by outputs alone. Commissioners asked that the department propose rubric‑style criteria for evaluating contracts at the October meeting ahead of November approvals.

The commission asked for follow up on several items — a split of janitorial versus deep maintenance vacancies, eviction trend lines by provider, and a clearer methodology for measuring returns to homelessness — and McSpadden committed to providing additional detail in future packets. The commission voted later in the meeting to approve its rules of order and to adopt meeting minutes from August.