San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder Pushes Back Against 90 Day Shelter Policy

Written By Evolve California

The city of San Francisco limits shelter stays to 90 days for unhoused families, as of new policies announced back in November. Supervisor Jackie Fielder wants to change that, citing that it often takes much longer than 90 days for unhoused families to find stable housing. Fielder wants to extend that time frame to a full year, which would alleviate the anxiety of having only three months to find housing for an entire family. The city pointed to long shelter waitlists as a reason for the 90 day shelter policy. There are 535 adults and 318 families on the shelter waitlist.

Despite this, reducing the amount of time families are allowed to stay in the shelter is not the answer. Having less time to find housing keeps families from finding truly stable housing, which increases the chance of them needing to stay in a shelter again. Housing justice needs to include preventative measures, as well as harm reduction measures. The priority needs to be actually helping our unhoused community, not just using them as a political talking point. The 90-day shelter policy needs to be extended to a full year.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle 2022

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