San Francisco supes approve unhoused relocation program

And the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is just approving now a program to help homeless individuals get back to where they came from and their families. Yeah, their hometowns. Officials say this program is going to help the homeless crisis in the city at the same time. We have Crown Force Michael Thomas live in San Francisco out of City Hall to explain. Good morning, Michael. Hi. Good morning, everyone. Essentially, this program could help hundreds of unhoused people and those who may be living in a shelter to get back to their hometown. But the big question is, do they want to go home and are they willing to? Well, take a look. We've got video up on your screen so I can break it all down for you. Now, this ordinance and program is called the Homeward Bound Program. It was initiated back in 2005 by Governor Gavin Newsom when he served as the city's mayor. The program provides homeless individuals in both the city and county of San Francisco with travel and relocation assistance, having an end goal of cleaning the streets of San Francisco and allowing unhoused people the chance to get back to their hometowns and reunite with family. We spoke with one couple this morning who says they do live on the streets of San Francisco. This is what their thoughts were when it came to the program and how they feel it could help some of their peers out on the streets. Some would, but I think they're so strung out that, you know, they're just going to be, it's a cycle of just, you know, doing the same thing over and over and over again. These addicts are suffering from, you know, trauma, trauma from their childhood just makes it a trigger. If the parents wouldn't allow them to come back, that would be a really good thing. Now the ordinance was reintroduced by Supervisor Asha Safai, who says in recent years this program only assisted a few hundred people, while years ago it assisted around 11,000. This is a reason of why he proposed to bring back the changes, making sure that it gets used. The Supervisor also adds that those choosing to participate oftentimes live within the state and only cost the city around less than $200, adding that overall it'll help save the city's social service costs. Now, when it comes to the details of when or how exactly they'll begin to implement this ordinance, we're still waiting for that, but back out here live, that couple that we spoke with this morning say it could be good, but also it could be bad at the same time. Live this morning in San Francisco, I'm Michael Thomas, Daria James will send it back to you. Thank you, Michael. Thank you very much.