San Francisco is still handing out free one-way tickets to people experiencing homelessness who say they want to reconnect with family or friends somewhere else. But outreach teams and would-be travelers say a lot of folks are turning the city down. Even after officials pulled several relocation efforts under the homelessness department and amped up outreach this year, only a few hundred people have actually left town over the past 12 months. The modest results have reopened a familiar fight between leaders who see relocation as a cheap, useful tool and advocates who argue it shortchanges people who really need permanent housing.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 444 people received some kind of city-funded relocation help last year, down from 530 the year before and well below the program’s heyday, when more than 1,000 people a year accepted travel assistance. The Chronicle also found that about 18% of those who used the homelessness department’s relocation program between Jan. 1, 2023 and Dec. 31, 2024 showed up again in San Francisco’s homeless services system within a year. On paper, the math is stark: relocation typically runs under $500 per person, while a single new permanent supportive housing unit can cost about $1.2 million to build.
How the city's relocation programs are structured
The city operates several parallel tracks for people who want to leave: the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s Problem Solving Relocation Assistance, the Human Services Agency’s CAAP relocation option and the Journey Home program. Each version basically offers transportation, a small meal stipend and, in some cases, a one-night stay on the way to the destination. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing says Problem Solving Relocation Assistance launched in July 2022 and that it posts program data on a public dashboard. In 2024, Mayor London Breed issued an executive directive telling outreach workers to offer relocation help before they offer shelter or other services, as per the SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.
Why many eligible residents say no
People who declined the offer told outreach workers it can feel like a risky bet when what little stability they have is here. “I’ve been here all my life,” said Mercy Mena, who turned down relocation because her son’s school and her church community are in San Francisco. Terro McMillion II, an outreach specialist with the nonprofit Miracle Messages, said volunteers put in long hours hunting for possible reunifications, only to find many people prefer to cling to familiar, if fragile, local support systems. San Francisco Chronicle.
Critics worry relocation shifts the burden
Advocates warn that relocation can simply move the problem instead of solving it when someone lands in a town with scarce housing and thin social services. Mission Local reported that San Francisco now runs overlapping relocation programs with different documentation and follow-up rules, which can lead to uneven results for those who do leave. Some county officials have publicly complained that they are becoming de facto landing spots for people sent from San Francisco, arguing their communities do not have the resources to support new arrivals. Los Angeles Times.
Can the city make relocation work?
City leaders counter that relocation is one of the few relatively low-cost tools they have while more housing and shelter beds come online. Mayor Daniel Lurie’s administration has opened new interim housing sites as part of a broader push to break the cycle, and the Human Services Agency has spotlighted recent shelter and interim housing expansions as part of that strategy. The nonprofit Miracle Messages, which uses volunteer digital detectives to track down estranged relatives and facilitate reunions, has been floated as a possible partner to help improve relocation outcomes. SF Human Services Agency; Miracle Messages.
For now, relocation looks likely to remain one piece of San Francisco’s broader homelessness response. Officials and advocates largely agree it should stay voluntary, be tightly coordinated and include real support in destination cities if it is going to help more than it harms. Until then, its low price tag and mixed track record will keep relocation an attractive yet imperfect option in a city still wrestling with a deep housing crisis.
