SAN FRANCISCO
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PUBLIC PRESS ISSUE 15
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FALL 2014
The Elusive Promise of Homes for the Homeless
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SUPPORTIVE HOUSING IN SHORT SUPPLY New initiatives could speed up placements PAGE B1
EVICTIONS HIT FORMERLY HOMELESS IN SUBSIDIZED UNITS HARDER THAN THEY DO AVERAGE RENTERS. A LOCAL REFORM COULD HELP WITH MEDIATION. PAGE B1 WITH GROWING NEED FOR TREATMENT, SAN FRANCISCO JAIL LOOKS INCREASINGLY LIKE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION, SAYS SHERIFF MIRKARIMI. PAGE B2
10 YEARS ON, ‘HOUSING FIRST’ MISSES MANY Thousands wait in shelters and on street for a chance at recovery
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fter a decade of ambitious reforms and hundreds of millions of dollars spent trying to rid San Francisco of homelessness, the problem seems as knotty, gritty and intractable as ever. What more can be said about the issue? Lots. We learned a great deal about how the offer of basic accommodations — what is called in the social service sector “housing first” — might disrupt the cycle of poverty, mental illness and addiction. While the theory was sound, San Francisco’s homeless population turned out to be a moving target. Inequality increased dramatically across the city. Rents rose, squeezing those at the bottom of the housing market the hardest. At the culmination of the “10-Year Plan to Abolish Chronic Homelessness,” the city has built nearly 3,000 units of affordable, subsidized supportive housing. But the evidence on the street is that there are many more waiting than offered spaces each year.
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Reporter Angela Hart interviewed city officials, social service workers and people transitioning from living on the streets to homes. She found that two large agencies — the Department of Public Health and the Human Services Agency — still have work to do to coordinate their offerings and get supportive services to the right people. Reforms to the triage system could give those waiting for a room at least an idea of when they might get off the streets or out of a shelter. But even the politicians who set the city down the housing-first path recognize that not enough money has been reserved to match the rising demand for supportive housing. This special report, supported in part by the Fund for Investigative Journalism, also delves into the reasons why housing is beneficial to mental health, and why the San Francisco jail has become the city’s psychiatric institution of last resort.
STORIES START ON PAGE B1
TRAUMATIZED BY THE STREETS
Graphic artist Dan Archer tells 2 true stories of search for stability PAGE B8
HOMELESSNESS HARMS MENTAL HEALTH
New research shows dangers of vulnerability, disrupted sleep PAGE B3
EXPLAINER: HOW HOMELESS GET HOUSED Two departments run parallel systems PAGES B4-B5 WITH PROPOSED STATE REFORM TO REDUCE SOME FELONY SENTENCES, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COURT COULD GAIN FUNDING, CLOUT. PAGE B2 COURT GIVES ONE WOMAN SECOND CHANCE AFTER VIOLENT ACT. PAGE B2 QUICKER SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR SOME WITH MENTAL ILLNESS. PAGE B3 IN THE MISSION DISTRICT AND POTRERO HILL, RESIDENTS ASK POLICE AND POLITICIANS FOR RESPONSE TO INCREASE IN HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS. PAGE B7 THOUGHTS ON HOMELESSNESS FROM SAN FRANCISCO DECISION-MAKERS: ED LEE, GAVIN NEWSOM, ANGELA ALIOTO AND MORE. PAGES B2-B3
MORE ONLINE: SFPUBLICPRESS.ORG/HOMELESSNESS
MORE QUAKE RETROFITS NEEDED
City’s building survey off by 60% PAGE A4
CHINESE WANT HOUSING JUSTICE
Immigrants fighting rising rents PAGE A5 FUTURE OF SUTRO FOREST IN DOUBT AS TREES AGE. PAGE A6 SHELTER FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS, HIV WILL REOPEN. PAGE A6
TALK OF DENSITY INCREASE IRKS WESTERN AREA RESIDENTS Selectively rezoning along commercial corridors could add 7,000 apartments PAGE A3
AS HIGH-TECH BOOM REMAKES MID-MARKET AREA, HIRING OF NEIGHBORHOOD WORKERS FALLS SHORT OF PROMISES. PAGE A7 NEIGHBORS CONVERGE ON MISSION DISTRICT TO LEARN WHY CHILDREN ARE FALLING BEHIND AT SCHOOL. PAGE A7 ARTISTS GATHER TO CRITIQUE GENTRIFICATION WITH ART. PAGE A8 WHY RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS — INTERVIEW WITH UC BERKELEY RESEARCHER KEN JACOBS. PAGE A8
LANDLORDS, RENTERS COULD BE PARTNERS IN CRIME Rise in short-term rentals are exacerbating San Francisco’s affordable housing crisis PAGE A5
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