Making news recently was Mayor London Breed, the outgoing mayor of San Francisco, who made a major policy shift regarding the city’s homeless population. Before providing shelter or any other services, city workers must first offer every homeless person a bus or train ticket to somewhere else. Yet, while the city may have attracted attention for putting its busing program at the forefront of its homelessness strategy, other cities and nonprofits in California are also sending small numbers of homeless people all over the country.
How California’s Homeless Are Being Moved
California’s relocation program can genuinely help homeless individuals who want to move in with family in another city or state, or assist people who got stuck somewhere after a job or housing prospect fell through. However, some activists worry that these types of programs are designed to move unhoused people out of sight rather than help them. Once someone is bused away, it is hard to tell what actually happens to them—whether they were reunited with their family or became homeless in another city.
Many of these programs conduct further research before sending people off on a bus, but the amount of effort put in varies. For example, one Los Angeles nonprofit serving homeless young people has a therapist call the client’s family in the destination city to ensure the client is going somewhere safe. On the other end of the spectrum, another relocation program in San Francisco requires clients to have only a vague connection to their destination city.
“In general, the ability to travel back to a place where you have a home is really important and can be a lifesaving service, in fact, and can help to reunite families,” said Niki Jones, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness. “When done in good faith, it can be an important and powerful intervention.”
California programs are attracting nationwide attention, particularly during a time when city leaders are facing pressure—including from Governor Gavin Newsom—to eliminate homeless encampments but lack sufficient resources to provide shelter or homes for everyone.
How San Francisco Programs Work
Soon after Mayor Breed cracked down on tent encampments in San Francisco, all city agencies were ordered to “offer and incentivize” the city’s busing program before other services, with those who declined any help at risk of being arrested for illegally camping in public spaces.
According to Emily Cohen, deputy director of communications and legislative affairs for the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, San Francisco has been offering some form of busing program for about two decades. However, the usage of these programs declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel restrictions were in place.
With homeless numbers increasing in recent years, San Francisco offers three programs to help unhoused people relocate outside of the city. Launched in 2023, Journey Home requires that someone be healthy enough to travel and prove some connection to their destination city. This connection could be proven by a phone call to a friend or relative, showing a receipt that the client once got food stamps in that state, or an ID with an address in that city.
Cohen said no one is being forced to leave San Francisco, and added, “The intention is to facilitate connections with loved ones and home communities if that is a safe and healthy option for you. But no one is required to take that option.”
Busing Programs in Other Cities
With a budget of $200,000, San Jose is preparing to launch a program called Homeward Bound, which is expected to start in February. This money will go toward a client’s bus or plane ticket or help cover utility bills or other expenses for the friend or family member taking them in.
In Sacramento County, these services are also offered but not widely used, said county spokesperson Janna Haynes. The county’s Return to Residency Program was used by only 17 people during the 2022–23 fiscal year. This program has since been dissolved, and social workers in various county programs now offer the service on a case-by-case basis.
Since August, 151 people have been relocated from San Francisco, with at least 29 going to other cities within the state. Others have relocated to Texas, Florida, and Georgia.
