Sociology Report: Strategic Plan to Aid Homeless in San Francisco

This sociology report addresses the critical issue of homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area, highlighting the disparity between the region's prosperity and the large number of individuals living on the streets. It identifies key factors contributing to homelessness, including economic instability, failed housing policies, gentrification, and displacement. The report proposes a strategic action plan involving government initiatives to provide jobs, affordable housing through housing finance corporations, and support systems for the homeless population. The plan emphasizes identifying the homeless population, assessing costs, establishing housing and support infrastructure, ensuring public health and safety, developing industrial infrastructure for job creation, and providing affordable housing options. The report concludes that addressing economic development and housing affordability is crucial to solving the homelessness crisis in the Bay Area.

Running Head: Sociology
Sociology
Report
System04104
3/19/2019

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Executive summary
San Francisco is one of the most prosperous regions in the USA; despite being most
of the people in this bay area of California, people are homeless. Every night thousands of
people sleep on the streets. It is such deeply disheartening for every people, every country, or
every community that people live and sleep on the streets. The main problem behind this is
improper economic development in bay regions in the USA and even the government is not
focusing on the problems of these homeless people. Apart from this, unemployment,
gentrification, and displacement are the major causes behind homelessness in California. If
the government takes some small steps like provide jobs for unemployed people, initiate
some development works in manufacturing and service industry in the bay areas, and provide
housing aid funds for homeless people, this problem can be solved. The major focus of this
report is to provide a strategic action plan for homeless people in San Francisco. The strategic
plan mainly focuses on government initiative and its role in providing jobs to homeless
people and provides affordable houses to them with the help of housing finance corporations
and other financial organisations.

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Table of Contents
Executive summary...............................................................................................................................1
‘Housing Crisis’ in San Francisco Bay Area, California............................................................................3
Reasons for Homelessness in San Francisco......................................................................................3
Solution Plan to Short out This Problem................................................................................................5
Conclusions............................................................................................................................................6
References.............................................................................................................................................7

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‘Housing Crisis’ in San Francisco Bay Area, California
San Francisco Bay Area has one of the largest sheltered homeless populations in the
United State of America (USA). Although, this place is one of the prosperous areas in the
USA, but a large number of people sleep on the streets. San Francisco Bay Area shows the
failure of progressive urbanism programs which is promised by both local and state
government. Although, California has more than 12% population of the U.S. but among
them, more than 22% of people are struggling for their own home and they are obliged to
sleep on streets (Institute for Local Government, 2018). It can be seen in Fig. 1, that the
homeless population in San Francisco is very high in comparison to other Bay Area in
California. Alameda is also facing the same problem where the homeless population is
continuously rising in compare to 2013 and 2015. In January 2017, it was found that the
homelessness in California was increased by 13.7% from 2016-17. In California, more than
134,278 people were found to be homeless in 2017, but the experts say that the number of
people without housing is three to four times higher than the actual estimation (Fagan, 2017).
Fig 1: Homeless population as a percentage of total population in Different Bay Area in
the USA (Source: Turner, 2017)

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Reasons for Homelessness in San Francisco
Economic Instability: It can be seen in Fig. 2 that only 42% of people belong to
sheltered population, where a large number of people are facing the homelessness problem in
the San Francisco Bay area. The most common reason behind homelessness is economic
instability in these bay areas of San Francisco, California. The people who are losing jobs are
also suffering from the problem of homelessness. Economic instability creates major
problems for people in California, especially in the bay areas, where people cannot find jobs
because of decline in the growth rate in both manufacturing and service sector (Reppond &
Bullock, 2018). The decline in both manufacturing and service sector also leads to the
problem of low wages and unemployment in the region. This factor also leads to high rent
and housing charge in these areas.
(Source: Turner, 2017)
Failed Housing policy of Government: The federal and local government cut the
housing funds for affordable houses from the 1970s. This problem was specially raised when
the Reagan administration cut the rural development funds by 80% in the 1970s (McNeill,
2016). In recent time, the housing fund amount does not come from the U.S. government,
rather it is collected in the form of incentives from private sector companies as ‘Low Income

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Housing Tax Credit.' Government is also continuously cutting these funds every year that
creates problems for sufficient money for affordable houses in bay areas.
Gentrification and Displacement: Gentrification is a serious concern in San
Francisco. The rapid growth in the other part of the country forces to build new houses and
industries in the bay areas, but it enhances the cost of living in those areas and the house rent
will be also increased. The new industries which are established near San Francisco have
created thousands of jobs that lead to high demand for housing and combined with lack of
supply.
Fig.3 Individual Causes of Homelessness in San Francisco (source: Turner, 2017)
Strategic Action Plan for Homeless People
To solve this problem government should create a strategic plan and should focus on
providing jobs for poor and unemployed people. For this purpose, the federal government and
local government can both play a key role in eliminating the homelessness problem in the
community.
1. Identify the Homeless Population: Both federal and state government can identify those
people who are leaving without homes by conducting a survey program. Under this
government can promote various homelessness programs and measure the effectiveness

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of existing programs. Government should also monitor and identify risk and build some
prevention resources. Government should also increase the capacity of current
homelessness programs.
2. Assessment of total cost or feasibility analysis: After identifying the homeless people
and their density in the area, government should assess the overall cost of financing for
housing for those people who are poor and homeless. The government should focus on
effective housing programs in the bay areas and provide appropriate housing funds to
those people having urgent need of a house. The Housing Finance Corporation can help
in financing and provide the adequate funds required for building new houses in the bay
areas.
3. Housing and Support system: The government should focus on those people who are
homeless. For this, government can develop a housing and support system infrastructure
that helps to provide adequate information on these types of people. To support this
program government can strengthen the outreach activity and people engagement activity.
If the local and federal government provide the jobs opportunity for people, the life of
people will be improve. To support the community, the government and local NGOs can
initiate and integrate the Youth Task force from those people who have experienced
homelessness.
4. Public Health and Safety: Government should launch a public safety strategy to protect
the personal health of those people who are experiencing homelessness and ensure safe
environment for them. The government can provide shelter in cold weather and raining
season for homeless people.
5. Develop industrial infrastructure for providing Jobs: The government can promote
the industrial infrastructure and provide jobs for those homelessness people who are
eligible. This action helps them in their living standard and helps them in arranging some
money for houses.
6. Government should provide Affordable houses for homeless people: Government
should provide affordable houses for those people who are homeless. This can be possible
if government take the help of other housing corporation and housing finance
corporations.

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Conclusion
The major causes behind homelessness in San Francisco and other bay areas of
California is that people are facing strong economic depression that creates unemployment in
the area. Even people cannot pay their rents because they are jobless. The gentrification and
displacement in the area also cause higher rent and living cost for people. If both federal and
state government focuses on economic development in these areas and provide job
opportunities for unemployed people, this problem can be solved. The government should
also make some provisions for housing funds in the budget thus people that are obliged to
sleep on streets and not having any jobs can build their own houses.

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References
Fagan, K. (2017) California’s homelessness crisis expands to country [online]. Retrieve
from: https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/California-s-homelessness-crisis-
moves-to-the-12182026.php
Institute for Local Government (2018) Homeless Task Force Report [online]. Retrieve from:
https://www.ca-ilg.org/post/homelessness-task-force-report
McNeill, D. (2016). Governing a city of unicorns: technology capital and the urban politics of
San Francisco. Urban geography, 37(4), 494-513.
Reppond, H. A., & Bullock, H. E. (2018). Framing Homeless Policy: Reducing Cash Aid as a
Compassionate Solution. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 18(1), 284-306.
Rosenman, E. (2018). Capital and conscience: poverty management and the financialization
of good intentions in the San Francisco Bay Area. Urban Geography, 1-24.
Turner, M. (2017) Homelessness in the Bay Area [online]. Retrieve from:
https://www.spur.org/publications/urbanist-article/2017-10-23/homelessness-bay-area
Wee, L. (2016). Language policy, homelessness and neoliberal urbanization: The case of San
Francisco's Union Square. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 20(3), 263-286.