Investing in the Homeless Response Workforce

Improving Performance Management to Address Homelessness in San Francisco

Three coworkers reviewing notes on a whiteboard in an office.

Project Context: 

  • In recent years, San Francisco has expanded its investments in homelessness services to meet the needs of its growing population of people experiencing homelessness.
  • In 2016, the city established the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (SF HSH) to unify its homelessness programs and contracts and improve how services are delivered.
  • SF HSH is now strengthening its performance management systems to use data more proactively, helping leaders make informed decisions, track progress, and improve outcomes for residents. By building consistent data practices, the department aims to improve accountability, service quality, and impact.

How the GPL is Supporting: 

  • Working with SF HSH to strengthen its performance management approach and help the department use data more effectively to drive results. Support includes: 
    • Assessing current practices: Conducting interviews with staff across leadership levels, observing meetings and trainings with community providers, and reviewing contracts, monitoring tools, and program evaluations to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. 
    • Testing data-driven improvements: Working with program teams to pilot new ways of using performance data, including disaggregating key indicators by provider to identify promising practices and by process step to uncover bottlenecks affecting client experiences. Using this approach, Emergency Rental Assistance Program providers tested new application screening and onboarding practices that reduced application processing time by 36% when comparing data from July 1–December 31, 2024 to July 1–December 15, 2025, enabling households to access financial assistance more quickly. 
    • Building sustainable systems: Developing trainings, step-by-step guides, and tools to help SF HSH apply performance management practices across programs, supporting more effective service delivery for residents experiencing or at risk of homelessness.