SF Mayor Breed Announces New Executive Order Program To Bus Eligible Homeless People Out Of San Francisco

San Francisco Mayor London Breed brought forth a new executive order on Thursday, directing city staff to buy bus tickets out of the city and to where they are originally from if shelter space is full, echoing a previous program that started under former Mayor Gavin Newsom two decades ago.

San Francisco’s original homeless bussing program, Homeward Bound, ran between 2005 and 2013 under the guidance of then San Francisco Mayor Newsom. Over 10,000 homeless were sent out of the city under the program, with only one in eight getting back. And, as the Globe noted earlier this week, many charities in and around the city still offer bus tickets for homeless people in the city wanting to get out, with some being sent as far away as Florida.

However, San Francisco never revisited Homeward Bound despite the homeless population growing exponentially and making shelter spots hard to come by. That is until Thursday, when Mayor Breed announced that a bus program would be returning to the city. According to Mayor Breed, her executive order bus program, known as Journey Home, would “prioritize relocation support and services.” All homeless people in the city will be offered a bus ride before offering shelter and housing, essentially removing the ‘housing first’ policy that has prevailed.

All first responders to homeless people and encampments will also be handing out cards with the number for bussing relocation. Breed also noted that the bussing service would be brought up again due to the growing number of homeless people in the city saying that they came from outside San Francisco. The most recent survey found that 40% of San Francisco’s homeless came from out of San Francisco. Journey Home is also part of Breed’s recent crackdown on homeless encampments in the city, which many commentators have noted that she is pushing more and more on as election day approaches in the tight San Francisco Mayoral election.

A new homeless bussing program in SF

“San Francisco continues to be committed to investing in effective programs that offer services to help reconnect people living on our streets with their homes as part of our ongoing efforts to address homelessness here in our city,” said Breed on Thursday. “While we will always lead with compassion and we have made significant expansions in housing and shelter, we cannot solve everyone’s individual housing and behavioral health needs. We’ve made significant progress in housing many long-time San Franciscans who became homeless, but we are seeing an increase in people in our data who are coming from elsewhere. Today’s order will ensure that all our city departments are leveraging our relocation programs to address this growing trend.”

Reaction to Journey Home was polarizing, but with more residents falling within the support camp. Those opposing it said that the new program won’t make much of a dent in the high numbers of homeless people in the city and that it is far from compassionate.

“This is by no means a panacea,” Coalition on Homelessness executive director Jennifer Friedenbach. “It does serve a small population of people who do have communities outside of SF that they can reconnect with and be houses, but any attempts to expand it in the past have been unsuccessful because there’s just not that many people who can benefit from the program.”

However, supporters noted that the move will at least reduce the homeless levels somewhat and will ultimately save the city money on lessening the burden of current homeless care figures.

“This is so strange, we just talked about this becoming a possibility for the state on Monday,” explained Jack, who helps run a private homeless charity in the Bay Area, to the Globe on Friday. “Bussing we have seen be very effective, as many people want to go back to that support network they have but couldn’t afford to get home. Or in some cases, found better opportunities, but had no way to get there.”

“She didn’t mention it, but this is pretty much Homeward Bound again, just with a slightly different name and a few more caveats. Bussing isn’t a complete fix. We need to acknowledge that. But, in addition to their encampment crackdowns and renewed efforts on shelter, San Francisco is making a concerted effort now. Is it because of the election? Partially, but they also are in a budget crisis and want to reduce homeless spending by as much as possible. A bus ticket costs money now, but saves in the long run. It certainly has helped us out.”

More homeless initiatives are expected to be announced later this month by Mayor Breed.