Homeward Bound. The Numbers 2019
This solution is already in place and maybe makes sense as a place for a public/private to help keep the people housed.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Hundreds-of-homeless-people-board-a-bus-out-of-SF-14188436.php
Homeward Bound officially follows up with those who use the program
only within the first month after they boarded the bus. The city has
limited knowledge of what happens to them long-term.
The data highlight a conundrum for San Francisco: As rents rise and
the homeless population swells, it’s much cheaper to give someone a bus
ticket rather than try to house them here. But when they leave, how
responsible is the city for making sure they find stability at the other
end of their journey?
In the city’s biennial homeless count, San Francisco officials
categorize all Homeward Bound clients as having “exited homelessness,”
regardless of whether they did. City officials — including the mayor and
head of the homelessness department — also often tout Homeward Bound as
a success on par with other programs that place people into housing,
such as permanent supportive housing and rental assistance.
From 2013 to 2018, the city says it helped 11,031 people “exit homelessness,” according to the city data. A little more than half of those people were connected with permanent supportive housing or Rapid Re-Housing, a federal rental assistance program.
The rest boarded a Greyhound bus out of the city.
While the program has long been hailed as a lifeline for those
who want out of San Francisco, some say it is misleading for the
department to say it helped all its clients overcome homelessness.
The data obtained by the Chronicle — which cover September 2018
through March 2019 — include 262 bus tickets and show what happened to
participants within a month of boarding the bus. Outcomes are based on
three follow-up calls caseworkers make in that first month.
About 800 people use the Homeward Bound program every year. But the data provided to The Chronicle through a public records request span a time period when use of the program dipped significantly, and more homeless people were placed into permanent supportive housing.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Hundreds-of-homeless-people-board-a-bus-out-of-SF-14188436.php
How it works
- A homeless person is connected with Homeward Bound either through a caseworker or through word of mouth.
- To receive a bus ticket, the person must first be assessed at an intake center on Mission Street. To qualify for a ticket, a Homeward Bound caseworker must first make contact with the caretaker on the other end. Then, the person looking to use the program must pass a warrant check.
- The person is often sent to a service-intensive homeless shelter — called a Navigation Center — where they can shower and spend the night before boarding the bus.
- A caseworker then picks them up from the Navigation Center, or wherever they spent the night, and brings them to the Greyhound bus terminal. The person is given $10 a day for food and drinks during their journey.
- Within a month after the person leaves, Homeward Bound caseworkers call them or their caretakers three times to check on how they are doing in their new location.
From 2013 to 2018, the city says it helped 11,031 people “exit homelessness,” according to the city data. A little more than half of those people were connected with permanent supportive housing or Rapid Re-Housing, a federal rental assistance program.
The rest boarded a Greyhound bus out of the city.
About 800 people use the Homeward Bound program every year. But the data provided to The Chronicle through a public records request span a time period when use of the program dipped significantly, and more homeless people were placed into permanent supportive housing.
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