Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed celebrated a drop in the number of people living in tents on the streets on Thursday, just weeks after issuing an order to bus the city’s homeless population out of the area.
Breed announced in the August executive order that city staff would be required to offer homeless individuals bus tickets since the shelters and other housing options were reaching capacity. The number of people living in tents on the city’s streets dropped 60% from July 2023 to October, the lowest level since San Francisco started counting in 2018, according to a press release.
“Every day our City workers are out in San Francisco offering help, bringing people indoors, and cleaning up our neighborhoods and we are seeing the results,” Breed said in the press release. “We are a compassionate City that leads with services, but we also will continue to enforce our laws when those offers are rejected. This latest count shows we are making progress, and we will not let up as we continue to move people into shelter and housing and improve the conditions of our neighborhoods.”
A count conducted by the city found that 40% of San Francisco’s homeless community were individuals who were not originally from the city, but traveling to cycle in and out of city-funded programs, Breed said in her August order. Much of the unsheltered population are outsiders flocking to the city since they know they’ll receive shelter and other benefits, which led Breed to establish the “Journey Home” program.
Three directives made up Breed’s “Journey Home” program, which consists of offering relocation services before offering housing options, tracking down individuals who do not accept relocation services and informing first responders about the program. Breed noted in August that the city needed to be more aggressive with its approach, stating that residents could not be asked to keep supporting those coming to the city just for care.
Breed required that the three directives were to be completed by Sept. 1, according to her August order.
San Francisco’s October survey found 242 encampments on the street, which includes 130 tents and 112 “structures,” the press release states. October’s numbers were significantly less than July 2023, where the count was 434 tents and 175 “structures.”
Breed’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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