HSH budget: committee adds funding for PSH quality‑of‑life and capacity building while trimming some contracts

Deputy Director for Administration and Finance Gigi Whitley presented the commission with HSH's proposed two‑year budget picture and changes made by the Board of Supervisors' Budget and Appropriations Committee. Whitley said the department's current adopted operating budget is roughly $672 million and the committee proposed changes that raise next‑year authority to about $713.3 million — mostly one‑time changes to non‑general fund revenues — while the second year of the plan declines.

Whitley listed reductions and tradeoffs the committee made: approximately $2 million in ongoing CBO contracting funding was reduced; $287,000 in hygiene services at vehicle triage sites was cut (but Whitley said the services had already been incorporated into existing contracts so service levels would not drop); and a $438,000 one‑time outreach reduction was offset by a pending state encampment resolution grant. On staffing, several new positions were proposed but some were denied; remaining approved positions include a cross‑program initiative manager and two housing program analysts.

The committee added roughly $3.14 million in one‑time funding and $500,000 ongoing. Notable add‑backs include $1,000,000 (added to a mayoral $1,000,000 request) for quality‑of‑life improvements and security at permanent supportive housing sites, $200,000 one‑time for transitional‑age‑youth food security, $350,000 for an "Urban Rest and Sleep" pilot in the Tenderloin, capital grant funds to expand outdoor space at the Lower Polk TAY Navigation Center, and $585,000 (next year) to identify and fund a new safe‑parking site, with $500,000 ongoing thereafter. Whitley said the budget preserved full funding for the transgender homelessness initiative and included about $2.25 million in one‑time capacity funding for that work.

Whitley described revisions to the Our City Our Home plan: the two‑year investment was reduced from $60 million to $44 million; the comptroller identified about $34.4 million in previously unallocated interest earnings that helped fund the revised plan; state encampment resolution grants were also appropriated. She cautioned that some previously proposed rapid‑rehousing slots and permanent supportive housing starts were delayed or removed, while other targeted supports and capital investments were added.

Commissioners asked for more disaggregated reporting by age and other demographics, pressed for transparency on the use of capital and quality‑of‑life funds, and flagged frontline training and capacity building for providers as priority needs. Whitley said the department's training budget for direct HSH staff is modest (under $100,000) and she described efforts to leverage technical assistance contracts and partnerships to expand capacity.