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by KaPonda
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.
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? | 
