San Francisco may have lost out on millions of dollars in state funding to address homelessness — simply because it didn’t ask for more.
Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom threw a splashy $130.7 million at local governments to help clear homeless camps. The cash came from the state’s Encampment Resolution Funding program, which awards grants to cities and counties to execute specific homelessness projects.
San Francisco scored $8 million to create an interim housing site in the Bayview with 60 tiny homes and 20 RV spaces, according to state documents obtained by The Standard.
But SF’s take was dwarfed by that of six other cities and counties, which in some cases sought funding for more ambitious projects or submitted multiple proposals that were greenlit by state officials.
San Francisco submitted just one application — but could have submitted several more. The state does not disburse money unless local municipalities ask for it.
Sacramento won $18.2 million for two projects. The city of Los Angeles won $11.4 million, also for two projects. San Bernardino County won $11 million for a sweeping plan to put as many as 105 people in permanent housing.
Meanwhile, Carlsbad, with an approximate homeless population of 112, got $3 million for a project that could, in theory, house its entire encampment population.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which reviews the grant applications, said cities are welcome to submit multiple proposals — there’s no limit. In the worst case, the spokesperson said, the state will offer feedback based on the publicly available rubric and tell cities to resubmit in the next round of funding.
Each of the 18 local governments that won grants in the latest round got the exact amount they asked for, state documents show. Eight proposals were denied. Notably, Oakland and Stockton did not apply for funding.
San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, which was responsible for the funding applications, said it targeted just one grant because “only one project met the narrow timeline requirements.”
A spokesperson did not elaborate when asked what those timeline requirements were but noted that the city received a total of $17.2 million for two projects in two previous rounds of funding.
“We look forward to another opportunity to pursue additional grant funding in 2025,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Mayor London Breed — whose office did not have direct oversight of the grant proposal — touted plummeting tent counts and said Homelessness and Supportive Housing “requested funding that is based off of a formula the state implements.”
The spokesperson did not reply when asked what formula she was referring to.
“While the [Encampment Resolution Funding] grants are an important funding source, we do not rely on this program alone as a driving source,” the spokesperson said. “We are a city that already invests about $846 million in our homelessness budget, including a mix of state and federal grant funding.”
Experts say that while San Francisco could have submitted more proposals, it’s worth celebrating the money it won.
“They’re getting funding, and that’s better than most cities in California,” said Adrian Covert, senior vice president for public policy at the Bay Area Council. “On the other hand, most cities in California, just like most cities across the West, aren’t taking unsheltered homelessness nearly as seriously as they should.”
Elizabeth Funk, CEO of Dignity Moves, speculated that San Francisco may have had a hard time finding sites for interim housing, and it could be a strategic error to request funding for too many projects.
However, she said, the proposals are not hard to write — and submitting a second one likely wouldn’t have hurt.
“They’re not that hard, and they do tend to get accepted,” Funk said. “If you’re going to use the analogy of colleges, it’s one with a high acceptance rate. It’s not Stanford.”
Christin Evans, vice chair of the Homeless Oversight Commission, noted that money awarded to other Bay Area communities whose homeless populations often move to San Francisco could indirectly benefit the city.
Political opponents, however, were quick to attack Breed.
“There is no excuse for her administration’s failure to leverage more state resources to clear tent encampments and connect people to the services and housing they need,” said mayoral candidate Mark Farrell. “There is no sane reason for why Sacramento should be getting nearly triple the resources compared to San Francisco.”
“San Francisco just left millions of dollars on the table that could have helped us tackle this problem,” said mayoral candidate Daniel Lurie. “Ultimately, it’s San Franciscans that will pay the price for poor management.”
Newsom’s office directed questions to the Department of Housing and Community Development.
Breed’s spokesperson noted that while Los Angeles’ unsheltered homeless population is nearly seven times greater than that of San Francisco, it won only about 50% more in grant funding.
“We’re punching well above our weight,” the spokesperson said. “Considering San Francisco’s significant progress tackling this issue, other cities may need that funding support more.”