Latest Homelessness Audit Leads to New PSH Inspection Policy, Shows Recent Progress to Fill Vacant Units
While the audit shows welcome improvements in many areas, it shows the department’s continued struggles to implement overdue changes to contract monitoring and oversight
Supervisor Dean Preston, chair of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee, has announced the release of the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s latest performance audit of the City’s permanent supportive housing program.
The audit, released Friday morning, highlights crucial improvements to the department’s strategic planning and recent progress on filling vacant units. It also shows that the department has not consistently inspected permanent supportive housing units and continues to struggle to implement its contract monitoring goals. As a result, the department has vowed to perform regular inspections of permanent supportive housing units to ensure continued habitability and reiterated its commitment to implementing standard metrics and citywide contract monitoring procedures.
“Unfortunately, the Administration failed to meet its last five-year plan goal of reducing homelessness by 50% by 2022, even though we made some progress during the pandemic,” stated Preston. “To really solve this crisis, we have to double down on what is working and at the same time be honest and clear about what needs to be improved. Permanent supportive housing is an essential part of addressing homelessness in our City, and we owe it to all PSH residents to make sure it’s well run, adequately staffed, in good condition, and delivering a safe and stable home for residents.”
Preston commissioned the audit to shine a light on how the City acquires, manages, and maintains its permanent supportive housing, especially given the rapid growth in the City’s investments for the acquisition of additional properties. Between Fiscal Years 2018-2019 and 2022-2023, HSH’s budget increased from $284 million to $676 million, largely as a result of state and federal resources to support the City’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Proposition C revenues. Despite the influx in resources, the City’s permanent supportive housing providers struggled to spend down their allocated budgets, partly due to unit vacancies and issues retaining and hiring staff. The department also struggled to consistently estimate costs-per-unit for permanent supportive housing sites and services.
During the timeframe for the audit, auditors calculated a unit vacancy rate of over 10%, which meant that hundreds of permanent supportive housing units were empty as people were placed on waiting lists for housing. Frustrated by the persistent vacancies, Supervisor Preston introduced a resolution that passed unanimously in October 2023, directing HSH to significantly reduce vacancies within 90 days. Following the resolution, HSH filled hundreds of vacant units and reduced its vacancy rate to 7.1% as of February 2024.
The audit is the latest in Preston’s efforts to improve the City’s response to its homelessness crisis, including the following:
Championing tenant right to counsel law which has kept thousands of tenants from homelessness;
Funding the largest local rent relief program of any city, which has helped at least 20,000 people pay their rent to avoid eviction and rent debt;
Establishing the City’s most successful safe sleep site in the Haight at the beginning of the pandemic;
Piloting the use of a hotel as a non-congregate family shelter at the start of the pandemic by creating up a family shelter with private rooms, and advocating for shelter-in-place hotels for thousands of unhoused people during the pandemic;
Supporting acquisition of permanent supportive housing and affordable housing sites to get people off the streets and into stable homes; and
Commissioning audits, including the audit of San Francisco’s homelessness and crisis response street teams, which led to an overhaul of the street teams’ structures and coordination efforts.
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