Tuesday, February 15, 2005

SF's Homeless Count Drops

Mayor Newsom's Care Not Cash program is credited for a big drop in the number of homeless in San Francisco.
San Francisco's homeless population plummeted by more than a quarter in the past two years, the city reported Monday, a dramatic change Mayor Gavin Newsom says is a credit to his policies of cutting cash assistance to street people and aggressively moving them into housing with counseling services.
Prior to Care Not Cash, qualified homeless in SF received cash monthly, as much as $410. Now they are given a shelter bed instead. Homeless advocates, of course don't really want fewer homeless.
The new figures were met with disbelief from homeless advocates who say they don't square with reality on the streets. And they come at a time when most other counties in the Bay Area expect to report an increase in their homeless populations, leading to speculation that perhaps some homeless people are being driven out of the city by its welfare-slashing Care Not Cash program.
Who ever thought that giving homeless folks $410 cash each month was a good idea?

No comments: