Alioto's Homeless Plan - "San Francisco Cares"

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Alioto's homeless plan bans shelters

Ilene Lelchuk, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, May 16, 2003
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San Francisco -- San Francisco mayoral candidate Angela Alioto said Thursday she would close the city's shelters, build housing and make a significant dent in the intractable homeless population within four months of taking office -- without spending an additional dime.

Alioto said she would recruit 1,500 volunteers from businesses, neighborhoods, city departments and community groups to reach out to homeless people and steer them toward 22 "triage" centers throughout San Francisco.

City workers who are already on the payroll would identify homeless people's needs and place them in drug treatment centers, mental health clinics,

job training and housing, she said.

But not in shelters.

"No shelters. And no programs that don't have a 60 percent success rate," Alioto said during a news conference in Civic Center Plaza. "We take the money from the shelters and give it to the experts. This won't cost more than we are already paying out."

Alioto released her solution to homelessness at a time when San Francisco's most polarizing problem is also the campaign topic du jour. She is a liberal former supervisor and trial attorney who has long desired to follow her father,

Joe Alioto, who served as mayor three decades ago.

Her homeless plan is called "San Francisco Cares."

Care is the buzzword these days when it comes to homeless policy. Supervisor Gavin Newsom, who also is running for mayor, started it last fall with his "Care Not Cash" plan to replace homeless people's welfare cash with housing and food.

Then this week, Supervisor Chris Daly proposed "Real Housing, Real Care." It's an amendment to "Care Not Cash" that would bar the city from housing general assistance recipients in shelters rather than hotel rooms and cheap apartments.

Alioto's proposal was short on specifics, such as how much the city would save from shutting shelters and how much it would cost to build affordable housing and add drug treatment beds.

A 2001 report by the Board of Supervisors' budget analyst said the city spends $12 million annually for shelters, which serve roughly 22,000 people.

The same report said the city spends $4.5 million on residential mental health and drug addiction treatment for about 4,400 people.

Alioto said there are 9,000 to 15,000 people who need housing.

Social service providers and clients have complained in recent years that many residential programs already are overtaxed. But Alioto said the city has plenty of money and that more than $100 million spent on homelessness is mismanaged each year. That money, she said, can pay to house and treat all the homeless.

There are studies that show San Francisco might be able to do it more cheaply. A study by the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association found that it costs $68 a day to house someone in a shelter versus $37 a day in supportive housing with case managers.

A spokesman for the mayor, however, said it's insulting for Alioto to suggest that the homeless funds are poorly spent now.

"The fact is the city's focus has been, since Willie Brown has been the mayor, on permanent and transitional housing instead of shelters," spokesman P. J. Johnston said.

Former Mayor Art Agnos, who opened the first city-owned shelters in 1990, questioned Alioto's plan to dump the emergency beds.

"If the people need to be seen and evaluated over a period of time to determine their physical and mental condition, where will they be seen?" Agnos asked. "You can't quickly identify what the problem is and assume there is a place to send them."

Ken Reggio, executive director of Episcopal Community Services, that runs both shelters and supportive housing programs, said Alioto's instincts are correct.

"For many people, housing first would be just the right step. There is no need to stop at a shelter," Reggio said.

But city Treasurer Susan Leal, who also is running for mayor, said she didn't see how Alioto could finance her plan.

"There is no way with the current fiscal resources that we could pay for drug treatment for everyone. . . . or pay for supportive housing for everyone who is mentally ill," Leal said.

But Alioto presented her plan with confidence. "I love San Francisco and I'm going to get this job done," she said. "By April 2004 you will see a visible difference in the homeless population."

E-mail Ilene Lelchuk at ilelchuk [at] sfchronicle.com.