San Francisco is paying its homeless population to move away as reported on Friday, Aug. 24. The new campaign to address homelessness by Democratic Mayor London Breed reportedly divided the city. Some in the city criticized Breed’s new approach to tackling the Bay City’s homeless problem. The program pays relocation costs to move homeless individuals to communities where they have family or previous ties.
The program, known as “Journey Home,” covers the costs of bus, plane or train fare and a meal stipend. However, Humboldt County officials, where some in the program relocated, accused San Francisco of failing to follow up on people sent off. The county argues that simply shipping people out of the city does not solve the problem.
“We don’t need to be a dumping ground,” Humboldt County Supervisor Rex Bohn said. “Our cost for taking care of a homeless person that has nothing up here… it’s expensive.”
Breed’s office said the accusations are “overblown,” and contended that San Francisco only sent five people to Humboldt County. Her office also said Humbold County sent four people to San Francisco.
However, Humbold County officials claimed that its program verifies participants’ family, friends and employment opportunities and conducts follow-ups. Meanwhile, Breed’s spokesperson said that San Francisco contacts family and friends of program participants but said there is no follow-up requirement.
Breed’s new campaign has also forcefully cleared out growing tent encampments across the city since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling granted cities greater power to kick out homeless populations in public areas. Critics claim that it is criminalizing something many people have no control over, but Breed told CNN the city gave people a choice to live in shelters.
However, a CNN investigation found that is not always the case.
On the day the CNN crew went to homeless encampments, those being forced out said that they were told there were no shelters available.
Homeless advocates also argued that sweeps of homeless encampments do not solve the problem. They said many crucial documents needed to pay citations and for housing and employment get lost in the shuffle.
Breed said her initiative to address the homeless crisis in San Francisco, which shows 8,300 people on the streets, is in the early stages and she will assess the program’s effectiveness in the coming months.
