DATA STORY

Homelessness Trends Dashboard: Inflow and Outflow Analysis

The San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) is committed to providing transparent and actionable data to better understand the dynamics of homelessness in our city. This page features our Homelessness Trends Dashboard, a tool designed to track the movement of people in and out of homelessness in our system over time.

Why this data is important

This data provides insights into how many people become homeless, how many leave homelessness, and how these trends evolve over time. In order to reduce the overall number of people experiencing homelessness in our community, we need to slow the rate at which people become homeless and increase the rate at which people exit from homelessness into housing.

This project is a part of our ongoing commitment to using data to inform and improve homelessness response efforts. By building a clearer picture, we aim to support more effective solutions for those in need.

Data notes and sources
  • Clients are identified as homeless in HSH’s administrative data if they are actively enrolled in a coordinated entry, street outreach, temporary shelter, or crisis intervention program.
  • A small percentage of clients may have conflicting information in HSH data systems due to data quality issues. Clients who appear to be both actively homeless and living in HSH housing programs are excluded from “Homeless at Start” client counts.
  • Clients who exit within the reporting period but return to homelessness as of the end of the reporting period are not counted as outflow.
  • The dashboard does not include data on clients who are at risk of homelessness and seeking prevention assistance.
View source data

Understanding the Data

The dashboard embedded below presents yearly data starting from 2020, highlighting three key measures:

  • Homeless at Start: Clients are identified as “Homeless at Start” if they are actively experiencing sheltered or unsheltered homelessness as of the first day of the reporting period.
  • Inflow: Clients are identified as “Inflow” if they became homeless within the reporting period and if they were not already homeless on the first day of the reporting period (“Homeless at Start”). This includes clients who became homeless for the first time as well as clients who returned to homelessness. This may also include previously homeless clients who became inactive in our homelessness response system and re-engaged within the reporting period.
  • Outflow: Clients are identified in “Outflow” if they were actively homeless in the reporting period (either “Homeless at Start” or “Inflow” no longer appear as actively homeless as of the last day of the reporting period. This includes clients who were housed by HSH, clients who resolved their episode of homelessness on their own or through other resources, and clients who became inactive in the homelessness response system. Clients who become inactive may also include clients who pass away, leave San Francisco, are placed in institutional settings including jails, hospitals, or nursing homes, or clients who otherwise are not seen by homelessness response system service providers for a period of 90 days or more.