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"Access Team or Eradication Team?"

San Francisco Mayor and Department of Human Services meet secretly to eradicate homeless and low income residents from downtown San Francisco through vouchers and master leasing program.

"Access Team or Eradication Team?"

By KaPonda

San Francisco Mayor and Department of Human Services meet secretly to eradicate homeless and low income residents from downtown San Francisco through vouchers and master leasing program.

The sun was like the glare of a raving pirate, sending anyone who dared look in its direction in frantic submissiveness. It lit up the morning skies at 24 Willie Mays Plaza like the winning hit in ninth inning of the seventh game of the World Series. Willie Mays appeared undaunted by its intense brilliance as he displayed the calm persona which propelled him to the title player extraordinaire.

It was the opening day at Pacific Bell Ball Park. The Poor News Network staff attended the ceremonies to inquire of the Mayor concerning his proposed plans to redesign San Francisco’s shelter system. A press conference had been scheduled for the morning of Friday, March 31, 2000, at 10:00 a.m. The week before, Poor News Network staff attended a canceled press conference at City Hall. However, there was no mention of a homeless plan by the Mayor at the opening day ceremonies.

On March 21, 2000, the Coalition on Homelessness requested information under the Freedom of Information Act on plans related to any and all shelter policies by any agency of City government. The information was made available shortly thereafter. The data included the Minutes of a number of secretive meetings conducted by the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Public Health.

These agencies of government made no attempt to notify the appropriate service providers and/or the Local Homeless Coordinating Board, the official governmental body created to "ensure the accountability and oversight of the proposed system of programs, policies and services" of local homeless programs. The Coalition on Homelessness, during its analysis of the information. discovered some scathing facts concerning the proposed shelter plan.

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The City’s plan (hereinafter, "the plan") mandates that all people attempting to access the shelter system would contact an "Access Team" for assessment and intake. They would be screened for General Assistance, and then referred to the "Coordinated Care Team" for a shelter bed which would be paid out of their checks.

The Access Team would become the only intake point. All initial referrals to shelters would be done by a Mobile Access Team, which would assess and do an intake on all homeless people.

After an initial assessment is done, the information would be passed on to what is termed a Coordinated Care Team. The Coordinated Care Team coordinates a person’s case plan by working with case managers at the shelter. This is probably the component of the plan out of which payment for shelter vouchers will be tallied.

The next process in this newly proposed plan would see homeless people sent out of downtown into a 250-300-bed shelter which would be constructed in the Bayview District.

The goal of this plan would be, "A system-wide intensive case management plan." Assessment of anyone being directed to a shelter (ala Mayor Rudolph Giauliani, New York City) would be mandatory. This proposed plan would eliminate the lottery system currently in place in San Francisco. Shelter residency would no longer be dictated by fair game but by source and amount of income.

The entire plan is scheduled to come on line in October of 2000. It will disrupt a lot of good policy and create much more turmoil in the already chaotic homeless and low-income communities. Homeless, SSI and PAES graduates will be put into "master-leased SRO" hotels. These are hotels which currently housed people without tenants’ rights.

Like the bright sun at Pack Bell Park, the newly proposed shelter plan is a formidable challenge for anyone. The proposed shelter in the Bayview District would probably see many men detoured to its accommodations. However, can a plan composed without the entire team of San Francisco really serve the people when the heat is on?

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THERAPY COSTS TOO MUCH!!!!
Dee Gray, M.S.W., M.F.C.   Licensed Therapist specializing in advocacy and crisis counseling. Mother, daughter and family counseling. Adoption and juvenile dependency. Literary and creative art counseling. Individual and group therapy. Sliding scale fee. (415) 541-5629.