San Francisco's Navigation Centers Come With a Large Operating Cost
Mayor-Elect David Bronson, who believes in further impoverishing the already impoverished by issuing tickets for jaywalking, doesn't seem to be taking Anchorage's homelessness experts seriously, at least when discussing the size and scope of the proposed 'Bronsonville' mass shelter.
Jasmine Boyle, the Executive Director of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, told me that she sees an absolute need for shelter and believes, based on the best data available, that the city needs to begin preparing for up to 1,000 homeless individuals who will need shelter this winter and beyond.
Boyle said she prefers "smaller, more focused shelters" but will take any shelter that is "legal, ethical, and suitable for human beings and their needs in the next two months." According to Boyle, smaller-focused shelters are quieter and allow for more concentrated services that cater to elders, individuals with children, single individuals, or couples.
"Focused shelters are about safety and designing services for people with some similar needs," she says.
Other experts in the field of homelessness, such as Catholic Social Services, also feel smaller shelters are more desirable. Boyle compares that need to emergency rooms, where people with different medical conditions receive different types of treatment based on their specific needs.
Many individuals seeking shelter often escape unsafe situations, such as domestic violence victims. Boyle says it's essential to recognize that "people aren't homogenous in their need for shelter."
Costs
Navigation Centers located in San Francisco, California, come with enormous annual operational costs attached to them. For example, according to a February 6, 2020, Government Audit and Oversight Committee Report, the operational cost for Navigation Centers in San Francisco with>200 beds costs millions of dollars annually.
Operating costs of the San Francisco-based Navigation Centers range from 6 million dollars for a singular facility with 186 beds — down to 3.3 million annually for a Center with 84 beds.
The Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center in San Francisco has a 200-bed capacity — half the capacity of Bronson's proposed mass shelter suggesting an initial bed capacity of 400. The center operates at the cost of $3,777,517 annually, and its expenses include a neighborhood cleaning program and on-site security. Salaries cost over 2 million dollars a year.
Meals for those staying at Navigation Centers also come with an additional price tag not included in each facility's annual operating costs. Meals are listed as an additional approximate cost of 2.2 million dollars annually across all six department-operated Navigation Centers.
The Bronson transition team has said that the city would not be responsible for operating the proposed mass shelter, leaving unanswered questions about where the money will come from to operate it — details left out of the recently revealed plan pitched by Bronson's transition team.
The Anchorage Assembly Homelessness Committee will meet again this Wednesday, June 23, 2021, from 11 am to 12:30 pm at the Assembly Chambers of the Loussac Library.
