Targeted homelessness prevention helps households at risk of homelessness to remain housed, preventing them from entering shelter or other homelessness programs.  

One prevention strategy in San Francisco is flexible financial assistance to households at risk of homelessness. This assistance can be used for a variety of needs tied to securing or retaining housing, including move-in costs and rent owed. 

The measure below shows the number of households that secured or maintained housing due to a homelessness prevention grant provided through the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. These figures do not include rent relief and eviction prevention programs administered by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD). 

 

NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS THAT SECURED OR MAINTAINED HOUSING DUE TO A HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION GRANT

 

HOW PERFORMANCE IS MEASURED

HSH tracks the number of unique households who received financial assistance and maintained or secured housing as a result of that assistance. HSH reports data annually and updates projections midway through the Fiscal Year. 

DATA NOTES

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted this measure. California’s Eviction Moratorium, which protected tenants from eviction for unpaid rent due to COVID-19 hardship, was enacted in August 2020 and ended April 1, 2022.  

This eviction moratorium meant that fewer households were at risk of imminent homelessness during the pandemic. The California COVID Rent Relief Program and federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program filled in many gaps, allowing renters and landlords to apply for rent or utility support covering the period from April 2020 through March 2022.  

These programs helped keep households housed who would have otherwise been at imminent risk of homelessness in San Francisco, reducing reliance HSH’s homelessness prevention grants. As a result, the number of households receiving local funds dropped drastically in 2020 and 2021. The State program sunset in March 2022 and applications for local funds have increased since then. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• View additional information about HSH’s prevention programs on the HSH website.