As California’s population grows older, more people need help aging in place. This is especially true of veterans, a demographic with higher-than-average rates of homelessness. Over two years ago, Swords to Plowshares launched a pilot program offering enhanced services and staffing in subsidized housing to help veterans stay healthy and housed. Early results are promising, but future funding remains uncertain as the Trump admin moves away from long-term housing solutions.
Category: Homelessness
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Homelessness, Housing
HUD Scrambles Homelessness Funding Twice in One Month, Throwing Local Service Providers Into Uncertainty
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has abruptly rescinded a plan to overhaul how it funds local programs serving the homeless, leaving cities unsure how or when billions of federal homelessness dollars will be disbursed.
Posted inHomelessness, Social Services
As Trump Disrupts Homelessness Funding, Providers Hope City Can Prop Up Housing Programs
Nonprofit service providers and San Francisco officials are seeking funding approaches to blunt federal shifts that they worry could force many formerly homeless residents of subsidized supportive housing back onto the streets.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Health, Homelessness, Politics
Trump Homelessness Order Threatens to Overrun SF Hospitals, Jails
A presidential executive order issued in July focused on homelessness could put increased pressure on San Francisco’s hospitals and jails, which are already over capacity.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Aging, Community, Homelessness
Why Are So Many Older Adults Unhoused, and What Can You Do About It?
Homelessness among older adults is on the rise in California. On Sept. 30, the Public Press moderated a discussion that examined examined why homelessness is increasing among older adults, and how San Franciscans be a part of the solution. The conversation touched on the criminalization of homelessness, the human costs of capitalism and strategies to combat this crisis.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Health, Homelessness
SF Has a Chance to Reinvent Its Mental Health Care System
Over the next year, San Francisco must examine and potentially redesign its system of behavioral health care, with input from the public. Some experts see this as an opportunity to improve services.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Health, Homelessness
Homelessness Challenges Persist in SF Despite City Following Newsom Policy Lead
Gov. Newsom says repeatedly that the state is “flooding the zone” with mental health, substance use and homelessness resources. Amid a slew of press conferences and announcements last week on the release of new mental health funding and a push to make homeless encampments illegal statewide, Newsom repeatedly called on local governments to take charge. San Francisco is engaging in many of the initiatives Newsom cited, but still faces considerable challenges in addressing homelessness, behavioral health issues and substance abuse.
Posted inHealth, Homelessness, Labor
Arrested UC Workers Released, Charged with Disrupting Public Meetings with Labor Protest
More than 20 labor leaders and University of California workers were arrested May 15 as they protested at a UC Board of Regents meeting at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus. They were charged with willfully disturbing a meeting.
Demonstrators, who were protesting working conditions and calling for the university to engage in fair contract negotiations, were released after a few hours, said Liz Perlman, executive director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299 , which represents 35,000 employees across several UC campuses, medical centers, clinics and research labs. Perlman, who was arrested, said she was given a citation with a follow-up court date.
Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness, Housing, Law & Justice
Eviction Rates in SF Soar as Legal Aid Faces Deep Funding Cuts
San Francisco is experiencing a surge in eviction court filings that has taken even the most seasoned eviction defense lawyers by surprise.
In February, 365 eviction lawsuits were filed — up 57% from a year earlier — and March had 303 filings, bringing the total for this year to 929.
At this pace, San Francisco is on track to seeing more than 3,700 eviction lawsuits this year, versus 2,923 cases filed in 2024, according to the Tenant Right to Counsel, which was established in 2018, when San Francisco passed the “No Eviction Without Representation Act,” requiring the city to fund legal representation for residents facing eviction.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Homelessness, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Social Services
Visible Progress or Political Theater? Factions Disagree on How to Clean Up Street Conditions
In February, the San Francisco Police Department converted a Sixth Street parking lot in South of Market to what it called a triage center — a fenced-off area where police could connect people to social services or put them in a van bound for jail.
According to a city staff report, in the first month of the triage center’s operation, police made 350 arrests, three-quarters of them drug related. Triage personnel connected 275 people to shelter and 408 people to health care.
Advocates for people struggling with homelessness or substance use disorder say the city’s approach is unnecessarily punitive, but some business owners and community members say they approve of what the mayor and Police Department are doing.