{"id":449491,"date":"2026-09-01T02:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T02:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/449491\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T02:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T02:50:14","slug":"san-francisco-to-overhaul-500m-in-homelessness-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/449491\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco to overhaul $500M in homelessness contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is launching a reset of the city\u2019s costly homelessness<\/a> response system \u2014 promising no more blank checks for organizations receiving public funds in a statement released Monday. <\/p>\n

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing plans to transition its contracts \u2014 amounting to roughly $500 million annually, according to Lurie\u2019s office \u2014 to an \u201coutcomes-based\u201d model that ties funding to an organization\u2019s success in actually helping homeless people and residents at large. <\/p>\n

Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks during a public safety and violence prevention event on April 9, 2026. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to continue spending $1\u202fbillion\u202fof taxpayer money on a failing system\u2014we\u2019re\u202ffixing the system so we can deliver the safe and clean streets every San Franciscan deserves,\u201d Lurie said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Between now and 2029, the homelessness department, which manages massive multi-year nonprofit contracts for shelter and supportive housing,\u00a0intends to competitively re-award those contracts with new language focused on \u201caccountability,\u201d according to the mayor\u2019s office<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A homeless encampment at 8th and Harrison streets near the UC Berkeley campus, outside of San Francisco. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The agency is gathering feedback from service providers, advocates and other stakeholders that will inform future services and expectations on performance. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will build contracts with a clear purpose, stronger measures of success, and the resources and flexibility providers need to do their best work to move our clients out of homelessness,\u201d said Mike Levine, executive director of the homelessness agency. \u202f<\/p>\n

The move follows years of scandal and lackluster outcomes in the wealthy Bay Area city, which has historically had one of the highest homeless populations per capita<\/a> in the United States. <\/p>\n

San Francisco had 887 homeless people per 100,000 residents in 2024, many times higher than the national average \u2014 despite spending billions on supportive housing, shelters, and other services for those without housing in the preceding years. <\/p>\n

HSH director Michael Levine. LinkedIn<\/p>\n

Homeless encampments in the city have declined roughly 85% since 2024<\/a>, thanks in part to a Supreme Court ruling that allows West Coast cities to more easily enforce anti-camping laws. <\/p>\n

Neighboring cities like Berkeley have attracted scrutiny for sprawling homeless camps<\/a> close to elite UC Berkeley campus. <\/p>\n

Critics in San Francisco have long considered the homelessness system wasteful, even verging on outright fraudulent<\/a> in some cases. <\/p>\n

Gwendolyn Westbrook, the former CEO of nonprofit United Council of Human Services, was charged earlier this year<\/a> with skimming funds intended for homeless locals to fund a \u201clavish\u201d lifestyle that included luxury cars and trunks full of jewelry. <\/p>\n

Gwendolyn Westbrook, former director of the United Council of Human Services. San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The organization has received tens of millions in government grants over 20 years. <\/p>\n

In 2024, an audit by the Controller\u2019s Office found that HomeRise, a major supportive housing provider, had irresponsibly spent taxpayer dollars on employee bonuses and social events. <\/p>\n

An encampment is seen on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in nearby Berkeley, Calif. Jason Henry<\/p>\n

An investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a> uncovered serious safety failures at HomeRise properties, including a dead body that decomposed for days \u2014 leading the city to cut off funding to the organization<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is launching a reset of the city\u2019s costly homelessness response system \u2014 promising…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7,1493,5466,266,13,101,103,102,104,106,105,3586],"class_list":["post-449491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-california","tag-homelessness","tag-nonprofits","tag-northern-california","tag-politics","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}