My Plan to Address Homelessness

By Bevan Dufty

I'm proud of my work in this area:

• Establishing the Castro Young Adult Housing Collaborative for 26 homeless youth;
• Funding neighborhood-based homeless outreach/case management teams;
• Establishing case managers at the Main Library; and
• Securing Board approval for the highly successful Community Justice Center.

Transitional Youth

San Francisco has 80,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24. This has become an increasingly difficult time of life. In order to prevent future homelessness, we must bring our most disengaged youth back into the education system, continue to improve our juvenile justice system and focus our employment programs on the youth facing the greatest barriers. As Mayor I will prioritize services for these young people, especially the 10% who are at highest risk of unemployment, homelessness, or involvement in the criminal justice system.

In 2005, I partnered with Larkin Street, LYRIC, LGBT Center, Dimensions Health Clinic and New Leaf to initiate the Castro Youth Housing Initiative. Using a residential hotel at 15th/Sanchez we are providing up to 26 young adults with housing and supportive services. This initiative was created with the strong support of local merchants and neighborhood groups, and their collaboration with service providers has made this a model program I will replicate in other areas of the City.

Wet Housing

Despite the success of Care Not Cash, we continue to see the same individuals on our streets every day. In San Francisco we spend $13.5m annually on the top 225 chronic public inebriates, involving shelter, emergency room, jail and paramedic costs. I believe we can contain these costs and decrease the number of people living on our streets by implementing pre-treatment or "Wet Housing".

Wet Housing is a harm-reduction housing model where residents have access to alcohol and medical services. This approach has been successful in New York City and Seattle--Seattle saved $4 million in the first year after opening 75 units, and the housing has kept people out of emergency rooms and jails, and off the streets.

Restructuring Our Courts

The SFPD continues to struggle with habitual offenders -- the chronically homeless who urinate in public, create encampments in our parks and sleep in our doorsteps. I commissioned the Controller to study our infraction system -- there are about 13,000 infractions issued by SFPD, and about 25% are clients represented by pro bono attorneys with the Coalition on Homeless. These infractions have no effect and are costing millions of dollars.

I believe that this is an area ready for major reform and restructuring. I championed the Community Justice Center (CJC) that has been a tremendous success addressing habitual narcotics and other offenders in the Civic Center/SOMA/Downtown areas. I am committed to DA Gascon's approach of Neighborhood Courts to ensure accountability for low-level offenders to seek help or provide community service.

We can work together to improve the outcomes for homeless individuals seeking services -- but we must also keep faith with the taxpayers who are entitled to approaches that are fiscally responsible and effective. I am eager to meet this challenge and restore faith, fairness and efficiency.