Mayor Lurie Launches Sweeping Effort to Redo All City Homelessness Contracts With Focus on Outcomes, Accountability for Results

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Lurie today announced a major multi-year effort to reshape San Francisco’s homelessness response to be more effective and accountable, launching an effort to redo all the city’s homeless services contracts. Between now and May 2029, the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) will run a competitive process to re-award its full portfolio of homelessness services and housing contracts, employing outcomes-based contracting to ensure that the city and its service providers are effectively serving clients and supporting all San Franciscans. HSH will conduct this process in partnership with people with lived experience of homelessness, service providers, and community partners, beginning today with the release of a request for information seeking input on the future of homeless contracting.

The new effort to redo all homelessness contracts delivers on a key component of Mayor Lurie’s Breaking the Cycle plan, which has transformed the city’s homelessness and behavioral health response. A year and a half into that work, Mayor Lurie announced that unsheltered homelessness in San Francisco had reached its lowest level in 15 years, falling 22% while the city set a new record-low number of tent encampments in March. Earlier this month, Mayor Lurie strengthened the city’s Health and Human Services Good Neighbor Policy to set clear standards for how city-funded service providers contribute to safe, clean, and welcoming communities around the sites they run. Under his Large Vehicle Program, more than 100 families have moved from vehicles into stable housing, and the number of RVs on city streets dropped 20% between January and March 2026. Under Mayor Lurie’s leadership, the city has consolidated street outreach and helped increase shelter placements by 40%; established a new 24/7 police-friendly crisis stabilization center and the RESET Center; ended a policy that allowed for the distribution of fentanyl smoking supplies without connection to counseling or treatment; and stood up more than 600 new treatment-focused beds.

“Our administration is fundamentally transforming how the city tackles homelessness and addiction. We are not just getting people off the streets—we are helping them get on the path to recovery and stability,” said Mayor Lurie. “But that work can only succeed with a system that is built to deliver results, with accountability when the outcomes aren't good enough. We are not going to continue spending $1 billion of taxpayer money on a failing system—we're fixing the system so we can deliver the safe and clean streets every San Franciscan deserves.”
The new effort will focus on outcomes-based contracting, using contracts as a tool to improve results for people experiencing homelessness. Programs will be designed around the needs and experiences of the people they serve, with clearer definitions of success, more consistent performance measures, and funding structures that better reflect the cost of delivering high-quality services. HSH and its partners will share accountability for results, with public resources directed toward programs and approaches that demonstrate the greatest impact.

“This is a reset of how San Francisco funds and delivers homelessness services,” said Mike Levine, Executive Director of HSH. “We will build contracts with a clear purpose, stronger measures of success, and the resources and flexibility providers need to do their best work to move our clients out of homelessness.” 

The process will operate with the following key goals:

• Better outcomes for clients: The city will reorient every program around clear, measurable results—preventing homelessness and accelerating clients’ journeys toward stable housing and independence.
• Accountability and responsible stewardship of public funds: The city will set fair and transparent performance expectations for both HSH and provider partners, while providing the funding and flexibility needed for success. HSH will link every dollar it spends to outcomes—being honest when a strategy is not working and redirecting resources to a better use. 
• Serve San Franciscans and communities effectively: HSH will ensure that services are directed toward San Franciscans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, that HSH programs are good neighbors, and that we achieve strong outcomes for every client and community we serve.

“This reprocurement is a significant opportunity to strengthen San Francisco’s homelessness response system by sharpening our focus on what matters most: meaningful, measurable outcomes for the people we serve,” said Katie Albright, Chair of the Homelessness Oversight Commission. “Just as importantly, this process will be collaborative. By meaningfully engaging people with lived experience, service providers, advocates, and community partners, we can learn from what is working, identify where improvements are needed, and build a stronger, more effective system of care together.”  

“This reprocurement can help improve San Francisco’s homelessness response by focusing on better outcomes for clients and responsible use of public resources,” said Andrea Evans, former member of the Local Homelessness Coordinating Board. “With clear expectations and a willingness to learn and improve, we can build a system that better serves people experiencing homelessness and San Francisco as a whole.”  

Today, HSH released a request for information seeking written input from community partners and current and potential service providers on the future of homelessness contracting. HSH has also launched a community input opportunity for people with lived experience of homelessness, providers, advocates, and other stakeholders to provide feedback on the future of San Francisco’s homelessness response system. Additionally, HSH will host listening sessions where service providers, people with lived experience of homelessness, advocates, community partners, and other stakeholders can share priorities and recommendations for the new system. 
Feedback gathered through these efforts will help inform future service models, performance expectations, requests for proposals, and other competitive solicitations. HSH will continue to communicate the input received and how that input has influenced decision-making over the course of the process.

“As public health partners, it’s crucial that our system is not only responsive, but also supports people’s housing, behavioral health, and other medical needs in an integrated and effective way,” said Daniel Tsai, Department of Public Health Director. “This procurement represents a vital step and a genuine opportunity to strengthen how the homelessness response system and San Francisco’s health services can work together to improve client outcomes and help San Franciscans build healthy, thriving lives.”

“This is an important moment to reevaluate our city's response to homelessness. As we do so, we should strengthen accountability and sharpen our focus on outcomes,” said District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter. “This will result in both building trust with communities and better outcomes to those suffering on our streets.”  

“Putting a dent in the homelessness crisis requires constant tweaking,” said District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill. “I don’t think anyone expects radical change overnight, but these new contracts will increase accountability for both the city and non-profits. Every dollar needs to go toward a clear deliverable, and this is a step in the right direction.”

Implementation of the procurement and the rollout of new contracts will occur in phases through May 2029 to protect continuity of care, support the service-provider workforce, and minimize disruption for clients and communities.