Home by the Bay

Home by the Bay: An Equity-Driven Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in San Francisco is the citywide strategic plan guiding the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s work from 2023 to 2028. Today we are pleased to unveil the year one progress report that showcases our achievements in the first year of this ambitious plan and outlines our priorities for year 2. 

The progress report shows: 

• Between July 2023 and June 2024, 5,256 people were supported to move from homelessness to housing. 
• 83% of people who exited homelessness between July 2021 and June 2022 did not return to the Homelessness Response System within 24 months. 
• Between July 2023 and June 2024, prevention services were provided to 8,235 people at risk of losing their housing and becoming homeless. 

The progress report also notes that HSH is making progress on the system expansion goals, including: 

• Added 498 new shelter beds in year one and are on track to reach the goal of adding 1,075 new beds by May 2025. This accomplishment is tied to the Plan’s Goal #1 to decrease unsheltered homelessness.  
• Added 282 new units of housing for people leaving homelessness.  This accomplishment is tied directly to Goal #1 to decrease homelessness. 
• Added capacity to serve an additional 600 households with homelessness prevention. 

But our work is not done. In year 2 of the implementation of Home by the Bay, we will focus on 12 core initiatives, on developing strategies for specific subpopulations of people experiencing homelessness, and will continue to build on our authentic engagement of people with lived experiences of homelessness to guide this work. 

Check out the Year One Progress report PPT here and the full report here. 

We are focused on structural work to effect change, like:

• Equity- and justice-focused data and analyses
• Collaborative partnerships and decision-making
• Building capacity internally and externally
• Empowering the leadership of impacted communities and people with lived expertise
• Creating or strengthening initiatives for people who are justice involved, transgender, or gender non-conforming

This action area is tied to Goal 2: Reducing Racial Inequities and other Disparities.

The actions in this area will improve the overall quality of the homelessness response system’s infrastructure and flow. 

• Building and supporting provider capacity and sustainability. 
• Enhancing performance management and accountability. 
• Development of desk guides and policies. 
• Implementing a redesigned Coordinated Entry system. 
• Strengthening the quality, diversity, and utilization of data. 
• Improving alignment of citywide strategies and resources.

This action area is tied to every goal in the Strategic Plan.

Our work in this area will focus on improving services for people on the street. 

• Capacity Increase: Add 1,075 new shelter beds. 
• Expand services and resources in outreach, crisis interventions, shelters, and transitional housing. 
• Address health, behavioral health, and service needs of unsheltered people. 
• Connect unsheltered people directly to housing. 
• With other city departments, address community impacts and neighborhood concerns. 

This action area is tied to Goal 1: Decreasing Homelessness and Unsheltered Homelessness.

Actions in this area will increase the quality and quantity of housing options. 

• Capacity Increase: Add 3,250 slots of permanent housing (including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and shallow subsidies)
• Improve access to housing, including housing outside the homelessness response system
• Enhance services to support housing stability
• Implement new models for complex care needs
• Expand work to support people to move from supportive housing into other housing they can afford

This action area is tied to Goal 1: Decreasing Homelessness and Unsheltered Homelessness, Goal #3: Increasing Exits from Homelessness, and Goal #4: Supporting Success in Housing.

These actions will stop more people from having a housing crisis in the first place. 

• Capacity Increase: Expand prevention services to serve an additional 4,300 households on top of current capacity between 2023 and 2028. 
• Strengthen current prevention strategies and targeting. 
• Enhance housing problem solving services for people at the cusp of homelessness. 
• Created expanded supply of affordable housing units. 
• Develop additional upstream prevention strategies. 

This action area is tied to Goal 5: Preventing Homelessness.

Developed with active community engagement/stakeholder input processes and with the partnership of people with lived expertise of homelessness:

• Recruited and compensated Community Liaisons with lived expertise to design and implement engagement activities.
• Held surveys and focus groups with people currently and formerly experiencing homelessness.

• Input sessions with service providers, community leaders & stakeholders representing neighborhood groups, merchant associations, business community, and general public.
• Facilitated planning discussions with the HSH Strategic Framework Advisory Committee; the Local Homeless Coordinating Board; the Our City, Our Home Oversight Committee; and other entities.

• Developed with input from multiple City departments.
• Reviewed and considered relevant plans and reports.

Used the best available data to project how changing the mix and scale of a packaged investment of shelter, housing, and prevention services will impact homelessness.