On Feb. 20, 2026, officials in San Francisco are considering a proposal to give local residents priority access to homeless housing, according to a report by The Standard. The plan would have workers with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing ask applicants how long they have lived in the city and assign points toward housing eligibility based on residency duration.
The proposal comes as new data shows that 36% of homeless people seeking services in San Francisco most recently lived outside the city. The Local Homeless Coordinating Board recommends this change not only to prioritize locals but also to aid Black residents, who make up 25% of the city’s homeless population. However, some experts warn that such a policy could face legal challenges under recent federal directives targeting equity-based decision-making.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said, “One of the painful realities of local government is that if you create benefit structures that attract people with needs, you will end up having more people with needs under your care. We have to design solutions that don’t dig us deeper into a hole. And that becomes even more imperative if the hole that we’re digging is racist.” According to Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, “We’re pushing far more poor people out of San Francisco than are coming in. What we should be doing is prioritizing based on need and matching people with appropriate resources instead of getting derailed by political tropes.”
The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing said it is considering the residency question for all San Franciscans but acknowledges any changes must consider impacts on marginalized groups. Megan Rohrer, co-chair of the coordinating board, said, “What we used to define as equity work federally now is defined as discrimination. Now it’s unclear how much equity work can be done.”
Critics argue that prioritizing locals could disadvantage migrant families and other vulnerable groups. Del Seymour, co-chair of the coordinating board, said, “One person has been here 20 years, one person has been here seven nights, but they’re both homeless. If someone comes into the office and they’re ready to leave their street alone…they should be put on the list.” Matt Alexander, a community organizer for homeless families added: “This whole question is based on a scarcity model. If we instead made a commitment to not have homeless children and families, then you wouldn’t have to have a long debate over who gets housing first.”
No timeline has been released for when officials will decide whether or not to implement this policy change.
