Committee forwards amendment to homeless outreach contract; staff plan staffing increases and street wellness team

The Budget & Finance Committee forwarded to the full Board a resolution approving the seventh amendment to the contract between the city and Haluna Health to operate the San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team (SFHOT). Emily Cohen, deputy director at the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), told the committee the contract was transferred to HSH in 2016 from DPH and the amendment extends the term through June 30, 2023 and increases capacity through reallocation of existing budget and added time under the contract.

Cohen said the amendment funds additional staff (increasing FTE from about 70 to 84), including staffing for library-based outreach and an 11-person street wellness response team due to deploy with the fire department next year. The contract includes a provision asking Haluna Health to maintain a 90% staffing level or higher.

The Budget Legislative Analyst reported the amendment increases the not-to-exceed amount; the BLA cited a $12.7 million increase, while the clerk's initial item description listed a different figure. Because the transcript contains two differing increase numbers, the committee record should be checked in the final legislation and the official clerk file for the authoritative amount. The committee voted to forward the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation.