Dive Brief:
- San Francisco is overhauling its homeless services contracts, with plans to reissue a portfolio of more than $500 million in annual grants and contracts.
- The competitive process, announced Aug. 31 and expected to be completed in phases by May 2029, will focus on deliverable results, the city said.
- The changes follow a 4% decline in overall homelessness in San Francisco from 2024 to 2026, including a 22% drop in unsheltered homelessness, according to the city’s biennial point-in-time count.
Dive Insight:
From 2019 to 2024, the San Francisco homeless population grew 3.5% even as the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s budget more than doubled, the department said in a Medium post.
The revised homeless services contracts, part of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Breaking the Cycle initiative, will provide “a reset” for how the city funds and delivers services to its unhoused population, HSH Executive Director Mike Levine said in a news release.
“We will build contracts with a clear purpose, stronger measures of success, and the resources and flexibility providers need to do their best work to move our clients out of homelessness,” Levine stated.
Goals for the new process include reorienting each program around measurable results, establishing performance expectations for HSH and contractors, and ensuring that services are directed toward residents who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
“Putting a dent in the homelessness crisis requires constant tweaking,” San Francisco District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill said in a news release. “I don’t think anyone expects radical change overnight, but these new contracts will increase accountability for both the city and non-profits.”
