These individuals have been bused all over the country, including New York, Texas, Arizona, Indiana, Colorado and across the state. Northern California was the region with the largest number of relocations, at seven. Two people were sent to Southern California. North Carolina had the second largest number of relocations, with five people, followed by Texas with four.<\/p>\n The lack of follow-up after a homeless person gets bused out of San Jose has homeless advocates feeling skeptical about the effectiveness of the program.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m worried about the people who go back to the cities where they are from and become homeless again,\u201d\u00a0Todd Langton, founder of Agape Silicon Valley, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cFollow-up is the key, and San Jose is notorious for no follow-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Little follow-up<\/p>\n Relocation is voluntary and given as an option alongside housing and supportive services. Outreach workers will make contact with family members before reuniting them, but once they leave the city, there is little expectation to continue managing their case, Housing Director Erik Soliv\u00e1n previously told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do we really know what the unhoused will really find on the other end. Will (outreach workers) really have vetted the other end?\u201d homeless advocate Gail Osmer told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n The Housing Department did not answer questions about how it verified if families were willing to take the homeless person in aside from an initial call.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m worried about the people who go back to the cities where they are from and become homeless again. Follow-up is the key, and San Jose is notorious for no follow-up.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd Langton, founder of Agape Silicon Valley<\/p>\n San Jose designed the program comparable to San Francisco\u2019s relocation programs, Soliv\u00e1n previously said. However, San Francisco\u2019s relocation programs reconnect\u00a037 people per month on average<\/a>, according to city data \u2014 nearly the same amount of people San Jose has reconnected in one year. Since 2022, San Francisco has bused more than 1,500 people beyond the city.<\/p>\n About 83% of homeless people said they already lived in Santa Clara County before they became homeless,\u00a0according to last year\u2019s homeless census<\/a>. San Jose has the\u00a0largest homeless population<\/a>\u00a0in the county, with 6,503 people. About half are unsheltered.<\/p>\n Mahan said he wants to scale the program and push city workers to make more contact with homeless people and speed up reunifications.<\/p>\n \u201cHomeward Bound is already helping people return home for about $750 per participant, but we must help more people without sacrificing the quality of reunification \u2014 unlike cities that simply hand out one-way bus tickets,\u201d Mahan told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI fought to launch this program because reconnecting with family can be a turning point for people facing mental health and addiction challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n San Francisco as a model<\/p>\n San Francisco recently revamped its Journey Home relocation program\u00a0after it was found<\/a>\u00a0that workers had stopped making calls to ensure there was a family member to receive the homeless people being relocated.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771222995_300_LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg\")
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