(The Center Square) – First quarter homelessness data from the city of San Francisco show that while the number of tents has fallen to record lows, 75% of the outreach to remaining homeless result in refusals of shelter and services.
“The number of homeless tents are at the lowest levels on record,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie on X. “Every San Franciscan deserves clean, safe streets — and every person deserves a path to stability. We will be relentless until everyone is safe and feels safe.”
Lurie was sworn in as mayor on Jan. 8, running on a platform of reducing street homelessness. In April 2020, the number of tents peaked at 1,108, falling to 383 by April 2021, before rising again to 609 in July 2023. Former Mayor London Breed began enforcing anti-camping laws after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a ruling banning enforcement of such laws, resulting in a rapid tent decrease to 242 by October 2024.
With the tent count at 222 as of the end of March, encampments are trending down, though not as rapidly as before.
Data suggest some of the slowdown in tent reductions may be from the remaining street homeless population resisting service.
In May 2024, The Center Square reported that 60% of homeless outreach engagements resulted in refusals. For the first three months of 2025, 925 engagements resulted in 696 refusals and 229 shelter placements, meaning 75% of engagements resulted in refusals, an increase of 25%.
Each time an outreach staff member interacts with an individual counts as an engagement. This means the rising ratio of refusals to engagements amid a declining street homeless population suggests a growing portion of the city’s remaining homeless are so-called service-resistant individuals.
One measure to address service resistance was San Francisco’s newly enacted ban on county-provided cash welfare for individuals with substance abuse issues who refuse to get treatment.
As first reported by the San Francisco Examiner, Lurie has also directed the city to no longer “no longer accept letters from community-based organizations … for unhoused individuals or accept self-attestation of residency” to further deter drug tourism and abuse of the up to $714 monthly payments.
