Dive Brief:
- San Francisco could house its homeless for a price when compared to treating people on the streets, according to a new report from the city’s budget and legislative analyst.
- The findings came from real data comparing the cost of services provided to 1,818 homeless adults before and after they entered supportive housing between 2010 and 2012.
- The report found costs initially spiked as people accessed medical care they hadn't had before, but that within several years the costs came back down "on every front" including emergency care, behavioral health services, welfare and food stamps, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Dive Insight:
Although the study did not look beyond 2015, supervisor Mark Farrell suggested the statistical trend would be expected to continue in which costs would go down every year that people are housed.
“It is incredibly expensive for the city of San Francisco to treat our homeless population on the streets,” the Chronicle quoted Farrell. “And, first and foremost for their own health, but also for the financial health of our city, it is in the best interest of everyone to get them in some form of housing or services.”
For example, emergency care initially spiked from $11.3 million to $33.9 million but later dropped to $14 million. Meanwhile, behavioral health services rose from $3.1 million to $5.8 million, and later fell to $3.3 million.
Despite the findings, debate continues around how San Francisco should manage the issue, ranging from the possibilities of long-term shelters to permanent supportive housing.
By the end of the study period the city was still paying more for services after the people were housed than before (11% more in 2014-15 compared with 2007-08) though the costs shifted during that time from emergency care to routine primary care.
“Our takeaway was that overall the city is going to incur costs, but it was a better form of costs, and what people were getting was a better form of care,” argued Budget and Legislative Analyst Severin Campbell.