Top destinations for SF homeless bus caravans are other California cities
The on-the-ball SF Standard digs into the numbers about where all the homeless people SF is bussing outta town end up. And--no surprise--the most popular destinations are California cities.
Since August 2022, the city has sent at least 857 homeless people to other states and California counties.
While the city is unable to say where hundreds have gone through its longstanding Homeward Bound program, newly obtained data from the Journey Home program — which launched in September 2023 — show 27% of 92 clients were sent to other California counties.
The Journey Home program does not require clients to have a home where they are being sent, according to officials. But they must prove some connection to the area, such as a previous address.
Los Angeles, Sacramento and Humboldt were the top three destinations for homeless people traveling within California, according to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and the Human Services Agency.
The city started Journey Home as part of a multi-agency drug crackdown, adding it to an array of “problem-solving” services that aim to help homeless people by offering financial assistance or trips home to their families. A similar program called Relocation Assistance, or Homeward Bound, has relocated over 13,000 homeless people since 2005 and now operates as part of Journey Home.
In an executive directive issued Thursday, Breed ordered all city employees working with homeless people to offer referrals to these relocation programs before offering shelter or other services. Breed pointed to an uptick of homeless people moving to the city, saying local services can no longer support the influx.
The order comes as the city conducts “very aggressive” encampment sweeps enabled by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made it easier for local governments to clear tents from streets.
Read the whole thing here.
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