The San Francisco Standard · on new SF homelessness department director Mike Levine's contracting plans
Mike Levine, who took charge of San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and its $700 million annual budget in June after nearly a decade at MassHealth, said in an interview that more people are entering the city's homelessness system than exiting it and that the city underspends on prevention. Levine said he wants to tie nonprofit contracts to long-term housing outcomes, such as tenancy preservation at three, six and 12 months, rather than paying out invoices, and has invited providers that do not currently serve San Francisco to weigh in on the contract rebid.
Roughly 8,000 San Franciscans remain unhoused despite a drop in street homelessness in the city's most recent count.
San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing held three community-listening sessions across the city in the past week on its plan to rebid homelessness services contracts, and the deadline for its request for information was extended from September 21 to mid-October. The chair of the Homeless Emergency Services Provider Association, which represents around 35 providers, said the feedback questions are nuanced and answering them has taken significant effort, and providers said outcomes-based payment could penalize organizations serving higher-acuity clients.
The reprocurement policy tying contracts to outcomes was announced in late August, covering roughly $500 million in homelessness services contracts.
The Chronicle reported that San Francisco's new effort to fund homelessness service providers based on measurable results has drawn public support from the Cicero Institute, the policy organization founded by Joe Lonsdale that has drafted model anti-camping and treatment-first legislation adopted in several states. A critic quoted in the story called Cicero a "very problematic political operation" and said its praise is "in service of a billionaire agenda to undermine the safety net."
Mayor Lurie's administration announced August 31 that providers must reapply for roughly $500 million in homelessness services contracts under an outcomes-based model.
San Francisco will seek new contracts for all of its homelessness services over the next several years, the Chronicle reported. The mayor's office described the rebid as a bid to boost accountability and results for the hundreds of millions of dollars the city spends on homelessness annually.
Mayor Daniel Lurie rejected several recommendations of a June civil grand jury report on the city's oversight of homelessness contracts on August 24.