Gaps in Oversight of San Francisco's Homelessness System Are Putting Vulnerable Residents at Greater Risk

SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The San Francisco Civil Grand Jury today released "At Scale, At Risk-Upgrading Data and Oversight to Improve Homelessness Services," a report examining client safety, oversight and accountability within the City's homelessness response system, with recommendations focused on how data analytics, more robust governance, and operational accountability can improve outcomes.

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing ("HSH") administers and spends nearly $500 million annually in nonprofit contracts for outreach, prevention, placement, shelters and housing to blunt the escalation of the homeless crisis. As homelessness spending and program scale have grown significantly over the past decade, HSH and its oversight systems have professionalized to manage increasingly complex operations and services.

Yet, this report has found that HSH is not effectively analyzing data to identify risks, improve safety, or strengthen accountability. The investigation has also uncovered gaps in work conducted by the Homelessness Oversight Commission ("HOC"), which is the governing oversight body for HSH. "Recent reports about the death of Eric McCain at the Jazzie Collins Apartments and the planned closure of the shelter at 711 Post Street touch on the wellness and safety concerns that should be prioritized in City oversight. Safety should be a central criterion to how the City assesses and approves nonprofit contracts to address homelessness — and today it is not. Critical incident reports and other safety data are collected but rarely weighed in those decisions," noted Investigation Committee Chair Gary Hsueh.

"The current approach is not enough," stated Foreperson Ed Cooper. "More effective oversight, more actionable data systems, and outcome-based accountability are increasingly required in addressing the homeless crisis, which shows no signs of abating, and with a departmental budget that is plateauing."

The issues identified in the report have had a particular impact on service delivery at permanent supportive housing ("PSH") sites, which comprises almost half of HSH's shelter and housing inventory.

The report recommends that the City:

• Establish a centralized safety focus within HSH, designated as Safety and Compliance, to analyze and use critical incident reports improve system-level monitoring of client safety risks and trends
• Require the inclusion of standardized safety metrics and incident thresholds in nonprofit contracts ("Safety Standards") that set limits for the frequency of some of the most serious coded incidents
• Expand the use of data-driven monitoring and triggering for HSH's program management work, aligned to Performance Measurement Plan metrics and leveraging the new contract lifecycle management system
• Empower and train HOC to more fully exercise the full extent of its statutory authority to oversee HSH and conduct performance audits; and review and comment on contracts, providing crucial public transparency
• Enhance HSH's program monitoring scope to monitor the conditions in, and the operations of, shelters (as the Shelter Monitoring Committee is set to terminate) and PSH with unannounced site visits

The full report, "At Scale, At Risk-Upgrading Data and Oversight to Improve Homelessness Services," is available today at https://www.sf.gov/resource--2026--civil-grand-jury-reports-2025-2026

The Superior Court selects 19 San Franciscans to serve year-long terms as Civil Grand Jurors. The Jury has the authority to investigate City and County government by reviewing documents and interviewing public officials and private individuals. At the end of its inquiries, the Jury issues reports of its findings and recommendations. City and County agencies identified in the report must respond to these findings and recommendations. The Board of Supervisors conducts a public hearing on each Civil Grand Jury report. For more information, visit the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury website: https://www.sf.gov/departments--civil-grand-jury

SOURCE San Francisco Civil Grand Jury