Even after residents get in to supportive housing, they face many obstacles to keeping it, and make up a disproportionately large number the tenants threatened with eviction. Part of a special report on homelessness and mental health in San Francisco, in the fall 2014 print edition. Stories rolling out online throughout the fall.
Category: Homelessness
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Homelessness, Homelessness and Mental Health, Housing
How San Francisco Places Homeless Into Supportive Housing
INFOGRAPHIC: Two city departments run similar programs focused on getting people off the streets and into housing. Audits of San Francisco’s homelessness programs say that the demand for permanent supportive housing far outstrips supply. More than 7,000 people are homeless today; only a few hundred spaces in housing become available each year. Part of a special report on homelessness and mental health in San Francisco, in the fall 2014 print edition. Stories rolling out online throughout the fall.
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Homelessness, Homelessness and Mental Health, Housing, News
Promise of Supportive Housing for Homeless Faces Reality of Short Supply
10 years ago, San Francisco’s politicians pledged to end chronic homelessness, getting the neediest people off the street through a “housing first” policy. Today that outcome is nowhere in sight. Few people are lucky enough to leave the streets through the city’s subsidized housing placement system, where some wait perpetually to receive a home. Part of a special report on homelessness and mental health in San Francisco, in the fall 2014 print edition. Stories rolling out online throughout the fall.
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Homelessness, Law & Justice, Media
KQED Tackles Junction Between Homelessness, Mental Illness
KQED Public Radio’s “Forum” hit the airwaves this morning with a conversation with Robert Okin, the former chief of psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital, who recently published a new book on homelessness and mental illness. He said the common belief that the homeless choose to reside on the streets, from his experience profiling them, is false.
Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness, Law & Justice, News, Public Safety
S.F. Board Watch: Supervisors Question High Cost of Jailhouse Calls
The cost of a call from jail could come down, if the Board of Supervisors has its way. At San Francisco’s jails, inmates must pay an initial fee of between $1.25 and $3.95 for each phone call and are charged between 10 and 69 cents a minute, depending on whether it is local or out-of-state. Under a contract with an outside company, the Sheriff’s Department receives 65 percent of the money, for a fund to provide inmate services and supplies. The contract is expected to generate more than $3 million in revenue over its four-year term, but the supervisors are talking about renegotiating.
In other news: Concerns over sex offenders at Bayview Homeless Shelter, city money to stop nonprofit displacement and the soda tax expected to appear on next year’s November ballot.
Posted inArts & Culture, City Hall, Health, Homelessness, Housing, News, Parks & Open Space
S.F. Board Watch: City to Consider Expanding ‘Green Zone’ for Marijuana Dispensaries
The Board of Supervisors this week approved a limit to the number of marijuana dispensaries allowed to open on the southern end of Mission Street in the Excelsior commercial district. Medical cannabis dispensaries would need a special permit to open within 500 feet of an existing dispensary. Supervisor John Avalos said he may later propose expanding that distance to 1,000 feet. Plus: Marsh Theater’s Unwanted Neighbors | City Parks Closure | New Policy on Video Productions
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Government & Politics, Homelessness, News
State Homeless ‘Bill of Rights’ Put on Hold Until Next Year
A “homeless bill of rights” in California must wait until next year for a vote in the full Assembly after clearing its first hurdle. Advocates say the legislation would protect homeless people from local enforcement of so-called “quality of life” laws, and specify homeless people as deserving of protection in the state’s antidiscrimination statutes.
Posted inCommunity, Homelessness, Housing, Social Services
Homeless People of San Francisco Speak Out
The San Francisco Public Press interviewed people living in the city without housing as they gathered at the Mission Resource Center and the S.F. Night Ministry open cathedral Sunday service at United Nations Plaza. They shared their experiences about lacking a permanent place to live.
Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness
As Long Lines Form Daily Outside Homeless Shelters, City to Eject Disorderly Clients
Frequent calls to the police to respond to disturbances outside a South of Market homeless shelter have prompted the city to crack down on misbehavior and make it easier for shelters to summarily reject clients seeking a bed. Practically every day at the Multi-Service Center South shelter, the police are called to break up a fight or quell acts of violence. But the problem isn’t just inside the shelter. Homeless activists say the long lines people must wait in for hours makes the space outside the building a conflict zone.
Posted inArts & Culture, City Hall, Government & Politics, Homelessness, News
‘Homeless Bill of Rights’ Seeks Legal Protections for Those on the Streets
A new push for a statewide “Homeless Bill of Rights” could lead to free legal representation for anyone citied under laws such as San Francisco’s sit-lie law or anti-panhandling ordinance. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, introduced Assembly Bill 5, as a response to what he said was a national trend of enforcing laws on public […]