San Francisco County Municipal Code Art. XIII Standard of Care for City Shelters

Sec. 20.400. Findings. Sec. 20.401. Definitions. Sec. 20.402. Purpose. Sec. 20.403. City Requirements. Sec. 20.404. Contract Requirements. Sec. 20.405. Complaint Process and Investigation. Sec. 20.406. Corrective Action Plan, Imposition of Liquidated Damages. Sec. 20.407. Severability. Sec. 20.408. Limited to Promotion of General Welfare.

The Board of Supervisors finds and declares the following: (a) In 2004, the Board of Supervisors created the Shelter Monitoring Committee that is required to provide the Mayor, the Board of Supervisors, and others with accurate and comprehensive information about the conditions in and operations of shelters funded by the City. (b) After conducting numerous site visits of City-funded shelters and after investigating many complaints it received from shelter clients, the Shelter Monitoring Committee found that the City's shelter system lacks comprehensive standards of care to be provided to clients utilizing shelter services.

(c) In order to ensure that all City-funded shelter providers meet minimum standards of care in the shelter system, and that all shelter clients are treated with dignity and respect and are provided with a clean, healthy, and safe shelter stay, the Board of Supervisors hereby adopts the following contractual requirements that apply to all shelter providers in San Francisco. (Added by Ord. 50-08, File No. 071518, App. 3/28/2008; amended by Ord. 277-24, File No. 240871, App. 12/12/2024, Eff. 1/12/2025)

For the purposes of this Chapter XIII,1 the following definitions shall apply to the terms used herein. “Case management services” means those services offered to shelter clients by people with the title of “case manager,” or with equivalent job duties customarily associated with that title, that include, but are not limited to, referrals to housing, public benefits, and behavioral health, medical, and other social services. “City” means the City and County of San Francisco department that contracts for services at a particular shelter. “Director” means the head of the department that contracts for services at a particular shelter, or their designee. “Program manager” means the City employee who monitors the shelter provider’s compliance with the contract for shelter services. “Shelter” means a facility, including a resource center, operating under a contract with the City, to provide temporary emergency shelter services for single adults or families experiencing homelessness. “Shelter provider” means the contracted nonprofit provider of a shelter. (Added by Ord. 50-08, File No. 071518, App. 3/28/2008; Ord. 131-10, File no. 100437, App. 6/24/2010; amended by Ord. 277-24, File No. 240871, App. 12/12/2024, Eff. 1/12/2025) CODIFICATION NOTE

1. So in Ord. 277-24.

The purpose of this Article XIII is to establish standards of care that the City must include in contracts with shelters and to ensure that the City takes corrective enforcement measures against shelter providers who fail to comply with shelter operating standards. (Added by Ord. 50-08, File No. 071518, App. 3/28/2008; amended by Ord. 277-24, File No. 240871, App. 12/12/2024, Eff. 1/12/2025)

The City shall provide the following shelter services, consistent with this Article: (a) Ensure 24-hour client access to a shelter in order to make shelter reservations, provide on-site shelter reservations for current shelter clients, and ensure that shelters with shelter reservation desks make reservations for on-site beds if requested by a shelter client. (b) Provide at least one 24-hour emergency drop-in center. that provides shelter reservations, mental health services, medical services, and transportation to available off-site services and program; (c) Deploy a roving maintenance person to provide maintenance support to all shelters, (d) Provide bi-annual training to shelter staff on the Americans with Disabilities Act and mental disabilities through interdepartmental work orders with the Mayor's Office on Disability and the City Attorney's Office. (Added by Ord. 50-08, File No. 071518, App. 3/28/2008; Ord. 131-10, File no. 100437, App. 6/24/2010)

If any section, subsection, clause, phrase or portion of this Article is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court or federal or State agency of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof. (Added by Ord. 50-08, File No. 071518, App. 3/28/2008)

In undertaking the adoption and enforcement of this Article, the City and County of San Francisco is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its commissions, departments, officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury. (Added by Ord. 50-08, File No. 071518, App. 3/28/2008)