HSH reports new street‑to‑home pilot, near‑complete emergency voucher rollout and a shelter reservation pilot

Shereen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, told the Homelessness Oversight Commission that HSH is expanding tools to move people from the street into housing more quickly. McSpadden said a street‑to‑home pilot launched in mid‑June and "we housed seven people in the first 10 days," an early indicator she called "really exciting."

McSpadden also updated the commission on emergency housing vouchers, federal HUD vouchers issued during and after the pandemic. "As of late May, about 906 vouchers had been issued and 49 households had moved into units," she said, adding that the vouchers are federally funded and are distinct from locally funded Prop C vouchers. She noted that HUD does not fund the services component of these vouchers, and HSH used local dollars to pay for supportive services.

The department described a new shelter reservations pilot that began the previous day at three large shelters. The pilot gives unhoused people a phone or web option to join a waitlist for same‑day vacancies and reserves a portion of shelter beds daily for direct outreach placements. McSpadden said HSH hopes the system will raise shelter occupancy closer to about 95% while retaining a small buffer for emergencies; current public dashboard data show a roughly 91% occupancy rate as of June 28.

McSpadden framed these operational changes as part of a larger effort to improve system flow — the rate at which people move through the system into permanent housing — and to make HSH services more transparent through public dashboards. She said coordinated entry assessments and housing placement referrals continue, and an upcoming unit‑level inventory and online navigation tool will channel all referrals through a single portal starting July 1.

Public commenters at the meeting praised the shelter reservation tool but urged swift, on‑the‑ground follow through. Jordan, a public commenter who said she is organizing tenants, warned of an eviction crisis in permanent supportive housing and asked the commission to adopt firmer protections for tenants. Brad McMillan urged the commission to address street drug use and questioned residency rules. McSpadden and staff acknowledged those concerns and said HSH would continue to refine program rules and monitor outcomes.

Next steps: HSH plans more detailed rollouts and benchmarks for its pilots and to report monthly on pilot outcomes to the commission.