Mayor's Office of Innovation 2023 Impact Report

In 2023, the Mayor’s Office of Innovation (MOI) worked on projects to strengthen San Francisco’s approach to homelessness, boost economic revitalization, and enhance public accountability.

One of our key focuses was to improve access to essential services for people experiencing homelessness. By conducting in-depth user research and analyzing data from Street Response teams and the Scattered Sites housing program, we provided insights to help strengthen connections to essential support services for those experiencing homelessness. 

Additionally, through Civic Bridge partnerships, we improved digital and ecommerce skills training for small business operators, integrated cross-departmental data for the Shared Spaces program, and improved real-time tracking of economic recovery metrics—all essential to the City’s post-pandemic recovery.

To ensure the community’s voice was part of our work, we launched a citywide engagement effort on homelessness accountability, gathering feedback from San Franciscans across the City.

Learn more about how MOI is driving data-driven, community-centered solutions for a stronger, more resilient San Francisco below.

Integrating "Street Response" data: New priority project

MOI is driving a new project to improve data sharing across San Francisco’s Coordinated Street Response teams, helping to better connect people experiencing homelessness with essential services like shelter, treatment, and housing. Traditionally, privacy laws have limited street teams to case-by-case data sharing, creating silos that hinder the efficiency and impact of outreach efforts. However, with recent state legislation, the city can now establish "housing multi-disciplinary teams" (HMDTs) to securely share data, enabling more effective service coordination.

Phase 1 goal: answer 3 questions
Every good discovery process starts with questions we want to answer.

1. Do departments want to share data?
2. What does not sharing data result in? Is it actually a problem?
3. Will we actually be able to link data across departments?

Phase 1 Process

Phase 1 centered on interviews with our key stakeholders at DEM, HSH, DPH and the Fire Department. We interviewed both program managers and data teams at each department.

Phase 1 Findings

• Departments want to share data: Most departments are either neutral, inclined, or extremely eager to share data. We did not meet any resistance to the idea of sharing data.
• Not sharing data is hindering many departments from doing their work: Our street outreach teams are feeling the pain of siloed data. They cannot track outcomes or operate as efficiently as they would like.
• With the information we have, data linkage seems possible: Sharing is already happening to some degree.
• Data sharing can have profound positive impacts on our street outreach: Many of our street outreach teams can make immediate use of shared data for profound positive impact in their work.

Phase 2: MVP Development

Phase 2 of the Street Response data integration project focuses on creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that links data across street outreach teams to better meet the needs of homeless individuals. This phase will deliver a scaled-down prototype of the final system, allowing for rapid learning, iteration, and value delivery to stakeholders. Key activities over the next six months will include:

• Data Schema and Architecture Development: Establishing a standardized data structure and designing an integrated data architecture.
• Secure Data Warehousing: Creating a secure data warehouse to safely store and manage cross-departmental data.
• Initial Data Collection and Testing: Gathering initial datasets from participating departments and prototyping linkage methods and procedures.

Learn more about the project here.

Scattered Sites: Wrapping up the Research Phase

MOI focused on strengthening San Francisco’s Scattered Site permanent supportive housing program, which provides rental subsidies to house homeless individuals in private-market units. Over the past year, we investigated barriers to landlord participation, aiming to recruit more landlords to offer units. Through extensive research, including interviews with landlords, service providers, and clients, we uncovered key insights:

• Finding 1: people who get housing get housed in under 100 days
  • While most participants find housing in under 100 days, the average time to housing is over 125 days. This figure is significantly skewed by individuals who have been waiting far longer—or who never find housing at all. Notably, more than half of those still waiting have been on the list for over 200 days, highlighting a crucial area for targeted improvements. 
• Finding 2: clients who engage in the process get housed
  • Interviews with both service providers and clients highlighted a key insight: success in the Scattered Sites program often depends on client engagement. As one participant put it, “Help is there if you want it, but you need to be ready to do some work.” Providers noted common challenges for clients, such as missed appointments, incomplete legal documentation, and difficulty finding housing in desired areas. Even for engaged clients, however, securing housing can still take nearly 100 days, underscoring structural delays within the program that impact all participants.
• Finding 3: Landlords have major reservations about the Scattered Sites program
  • At the May 2023 Landlord Expo, the i-Team developed a survey to baseline a proposed Net Promoter Score for City-backed programs. Findings revealed that landlords who had hosted a Scattered Sites tenant were significantly more supportive of the program than those who hadn’t. The primary challenge? Many landlords only hear about Scattered Sites through word of mouth, where negative experiences tend to dominate. Despite this, our surveys and interviews showed that most landlords are open to helping those in need, especially families—yet concerns about potentially problematic tenants continue to create substantial hesitation.
• Finding 4: lack of public data reinforces landlord fears
  • All tenants pose some risk of nuisance, from late payments to property damage, but landlords tend to assume the worst with voucher tenants. This concern is heightened by the lack of data to address these fears. Although San Francisco offers mitigation funding for damage caused by voucher tenants, the City has not historically published data on how often this funding is used or the typical costs involved. Similarly, eviction data isn’t separated by subsidy holders and non-subsidy holders, which perpetuates the perception that voucher tenants pose greater risks than market-rate tenants.

To address these findings, we are exploring solutions such as:

• Landlord-facing website that more clearly describes the Scattered Sites program
• Place where landlords can sign up as good destinations for subsidy holders
• Website that publishes mitigation spending and eviction data

Learn more about our findings and project next steps here.

Civic Bridge 2023: Advancing San Francisco’s Economic Revitalization with Enhanced Services, Digital Equity, and Real-Time Data Integration

In 2023, the Civic Bridge program brought together private-sector experts and City teams to strengthen San Francisco’s economic resilience and drive post-pandemic revitalization. Through targeted projects, Civic Bridge focused on enhancing City services, supporting small businesses, and integrating data to track the City's economic recovery. Key initiatives included:

• San Francisco International Airport & Adobe: Boosted non-aeronautical revenue by enhancing traveler experiences, using insights from traveler personas to improve amenities and increase traveler discretionary spending.
• SF Planning Department & Accenture: Developed a data blueprint for the Shared Spaces program, enabling cross-departmental data integration to improve the management of San Francisco’s vibrant commercial outdoor spaces.
• Mayor’s Office of Housing & Community Development & Slalom: Updated the Digital Skills and Entrepreneurship Playbook, expanding support for small businesses with digital training, e-commerce tools, and streamlined access to resources.
• Office of Economic & Workforce Development & ZS Associates: Enhanced economic recovery dashboards with automated updates and expanded metrics, providing real-time data for better decision-making and transparency.

Learn more about the cohort here.

Accountability in the City's Homelessness Response

In support of Mayor Breed’s priority to enhance “Accountability in the Homelessness Response System,” the Mayor’s Office of Innovation is committed to transparency and community engagement. Building on our work with the Scattered Sites program and data integration for Street Response Teams, our team is focused on understanding what “accountability” means to San Francisco residents and how best to communicate progress and areas for improvement in the City’s homelessness response.

Our Approach
Our public engagement efforts began earlier this year, and are broken into two categories:

• Community Workshops: Hosted across Supervisor Districts with diverse groups, including tenant associations and YMCA members.
• In-Person Surveys: Gathering quick feedback at public libraries citywide, asking residents to describe “progress” and “accountability.”

Our goal is to reach at least 1,000 San Franciscans, across each of the City’s eleven Supervisor Districts, capturing their insights on accountability and how to convey the City’s efforts to reduce homelessness effectively.

How it's Going
We’ve already hosted 7 workshops and tabled at libraries in 6 of the City’s Supervisor Districts. Workshops have been hosted by a diverse set of groups:

• Tenants associations
• Merchants associations
• Community members at a YMCA
• And more

We’re extremely grateful to the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) for their help ensuring that everyone can participate regardless of what language they speak.

What’s Next?
Over the next six months, we’ll continue to go to Branch Libraries and facilitate formal workshops. We look forward to building a trusted, accessible resource to keep residents informed and engaged in this vital work. Learn more about the initiative here.