San Francisco Says it Will Comply with Homeless Shelter Safety Law

by Lisa Weinzimer
weinzimerl@gmail.com

San Francisco officials say the city will now comply with a state law for monitoring homeless shelter safety conditions.

A Calmatters report found that San Francisco is among the vast majority of California cities that have ignored the law requiring them to file annual reports on shelter safety conditions.

The stakes for homeless people when cities ignore safety reporting requirements are high. Homeless encampments throughout the state are being cleared, thus increasing demand for these dwellings. In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered local governments to remove homeless camps throughout California after the Supreme Court granted local authorities more authority to clear the camps.

Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva authored the 2021 law creating safety conditions reporting requirements following widespread complaints about sexual abuse, rodent and bedbug infestations, broken toilets, and other problems at homeless shelters in Orange County.

Quirk-Silva said she would introduce a new bill by the end of January to add teeth to her earlier legislation, A.B. 362.  She said she’s observed that women are especially vulnerable in unsafe shelters, so they decline those services.

“All too often we know women on the streets are often victimized many times, and it isn’t safe for them to be on the street, but they feel so strongly about safety in shelters that they refuse to go to the shelters,” Quirk-Silva said.

The lawmaker said she may conduct an audit and take other fact-finding measures to better understand the reasons for the cities’ lack of compliance.

Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director of San Francisco’s Coalition on Homelessness, agreed with Quirk-Silva about dangerous shelter conditions. The shelters house many strangers under one roof who may need to deal with inaccessible bunk beds and a toxic stew of homophobia, racism, sexism, and other challenges, she said.

When asked why homeless shelters ignore reporting requirements despite financial penalty provisions in the legislation, Friedenbach pointed to how shelters receive their funding.

“The problem is most of the shelters are funded by the local municipalities, so it’s basically like a government agency funding itself in some ways. People are hesitant because problems with shelters are already rooted in being underfunded,” Freidenbach said.

Freidenbach said the most effective response to safety concerns in shelters is to increase staffing rather than withhold funds.

Friedenbach said many shelters in San Francisco have one staff person per floor, at most. She said that several shelters use security guards hired by outside agencies who lack training in working skillfully with shelter residents.

Emily Cohen, Homelessness and Supportive Housing deputy director for Communications and Legislative Affairs, said San Francisco has “very strict rules in our Shelter Standards of Care related to safety conditions and has a formal process for client complaints and investigations.” Adding that the system has been in place for a number of years.

Cohen said her agency was not aware of the state reporting requirements in the 2021 law prior to a reporter’s inquiry, adding that HSH would now submit the required reports.

When asked to share the contents of the promised report, Cohen declined to respond.