San Francisco Promotes Program to Pay for Homeless to Travel Home

Over the last two decades, San Francisco has paid the travel expenses home for about 11,000 homeless individuals, not from the area, to reduce its homeless population on city streets, under a program called Homeward Bound. But since the COVID-19 pandemic fewer are taking advantage of the program, perhaps, officials say because of a recent change in how it was administered. Now the county’s Board of Supervisors is trying to reignite the program with a new ordinance—unanimously approved March 19—that will return administration of the program next month to the original agency that oversaw it when it began in 2005. “Unfortunately, over the last few years [the program] got buried in bureaucracy, was no longer utilized or promoted,” said Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, who proposed the new ordinance during the recent meeting. He said the revamp would “codify” the program and “elevate” it as a tool at the city’s disposal to help get homeless people off San Francisco streets and on the right track....