T.J. Johnston, SF Public Press — Jun 22 2011 – 6:09 pm
A proposition on the November ballot in San Francisco would restore general assistance benefits to hundreds of people currently living in city shelters — undoing a key part of Gavin Newsom’s signature 2002 Care Not Cash initiative.
A homeless shelter bed would no longer count as “housing” under a proposed amendment to the Care Not Cash law. Under current rules, homeless people the city houses lose hundreds of dollars in benefits each month. The change would also make it easier for those who do not fall under the program to get shelter beds each night.
One hour before Tuesday’s deadline for placing propositions on the November ballot, Supervisor Jane Kim submitted a proposal to rewrite the law. According to what Kim described as a “fair shelter initiative,” shelters would be removed from the definition of housing for the purpose of city-administered welfare benefits. The rules would still include single-room occupancy hotels, residential treatment centers and supportive-housing programs.
Four other supervisors also signed the initiative: John Avalos, David Campos, Eric Mar and Ross Mirkarimi.
“It’s an amendment to both clarify and actually strengthen Care Not Cash,” Kim told The Examiner. If the measure wins, it will take effect Jan. 1, 2012.
Under current law, the $422 allotted monthly to homeless people enrolled in the County Adult Assistance Program is reduced to $59; the rest is redistributed to city-funded shelter services through a fund managed by the Human Services Agency.
Around 500 homeless people receive welfare benefits per month, according to agency figures — almost 8 percent of 6,455 homeless people the city counted in January. However, over one-third of 1,100 beds in the single adult system are dedicated to Care Not Cash recipients for 90 days at a time, and on some nights, those clients don’t use the beds.
Veterans, seniors, disabled and those receiving no income are excluded from the Care Not Cash shelter preference program. Usually, they must reserve a bed on a daily basis.
Mayor Ed Lee criticized the initiative as detrimental to the delivery of services.
“Care Not Cash is premised on providing a path to housing and services,” he said in a statement. “That path begins with shelter for those who need it. By removing the shelter system from the available benefits provided to Care Not Cash recipients, we dismantle this path to getting people housed.”
Care Not Cash was authored by then-supervisor Newsom and became a cornerstone of his successful mayoral campaign in 2003. Before the measure took effect, the Board of Supervisors struck a compromise that extended funding to supportive services in SROs and residential treatment centers.
Kim represents the South of Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods, where three of the city’s largest shelters are located.
See also, Care Not Cash monthly statistical report
