SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Coalition on Homelessness recently announced new legislation in response to rising family homelessness here in San Francisco and to ultimately extend “critical housing subsidies for families in need.”
The group’s statement outlined the new legislation that was drafted alongside the Coalition on Homelessness and Supervisor Hillary Ronnen, and introduced Oct. 22 at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting.
The Coalition on Homelessness is an organization that actively works to advance housing justice as well as ensure that every individual and family, in San Francisco, has access to safe and permanent housing.
The ordinance amends the City’s Administrative Code “to provide up to five years of rapid rehousing assistance for eligible families” and address the “increasing numbers of families at risk of returning to homelessness due to short-term subsidies,” according to the coalition’s statement, that added “This came in response to the doubling of families experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.”
This new legislation, the statement notes, essentially aims to “stop this vicious cycle by extending the support families need to achieve long-term stability.”
Mercedes Bullock, a human rights organizer at Coalition on Homelessness, said, “We need to ensure that the City’s rapid rehousing programs offer adequate time and assistance to families facing the most severe housing challenges.”
Currently, the coalition added, many programs only offer subsidies for just one to three years, which often leaves families unable to become “financially self-sustaining within that time frame.”
The proposed ordinance allows the City to assess a family’s circumstances and, “when necessary,” extend rental subsidies for up to five years, said the coalition.
Another key part of the ordinance, the coalition added, requires the City’s Homelessness Oversight Commission to “hold annual hearings and issue reports on the program’s implementation.” These reports will ultimately “analyze the effectiveness of extended subsidies in preventing returns to homelessness and offer recommendations for improvements.”
Additionally, this legislation acknowledges the challenges of “securing landlords willing to rent to tenants with subsidies and aims to prevent premature evictions,” said the coalition, adding this would allow the City to maintain and expand landlord relationships, which would preserve “more housing options for low-income families.”
Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness, Jennifer Friedenbach, said, “This legislation gives San Francisco the tools to stabilize more families and keep them from facing the trauma of homelessness again.”
