The county is responding to a news report from The San Francisco Standard that said Humboldt is one of the top three destinations in the state for homeless people through San Francisco’s Journey Home Program which started last September.
The program provides transportation for people who are homeless or have substance use disorders to a place they’ve lived before or have connections to.
“This is really a dramatic change in their policy, where they previously had a program that worked exactly like ours did, where they try to make sure that you have some place to go on the other end,” said Humboldt Housing and Homelessness Coalition Program Manager Robert Ward.
Ward said now, under the Journey Home program, people only need to show a connection to their destination, rather than having an actual home to go to.
Humboldt County has a similar Transportation Assistance Program. But, under that program, social services staff verify that a friend or family member at the destination will support the person receiving transportation.
County supervisors said they were concerned about the lack of resources and funding to take care of the homeless people that are already in Humboldt.
“We can't even take care of our own,” said Supervisor Michelle Bushnell. “We can't even shelter our own. And so the community – and I don't know about the rest of the supervisors – but the community, especially in the southern Humboldt area, where services are very limited, is very concerned.”
According to the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, 71 people have left the city through Journey Home since September of last year, but the agency doesn’t specify where those individuals have gone.
Some Humboldt County Supervisors were concerned that the facts around how many people have some to Humboldt County has not been directly verified by county staff, but rather obtained from news reports.
Supervisors voted to send a letter – pending modifications by county staff – to San Francisco Mayor London Breed asking the city to ensure that people will be able to obtain housing and employment before they’re given a bus ticket.
Supervisors also asked county staff to work directly with San Francisco officials to address these concerns and confirm the facts about how many people have been sent to Humboldt County.
