San Francisco Oakland San Jose, CA, September 7, 2026 — In San Francisco, a new mandate requires homeless service providers to substantiate their program efficacy through defined performance-based metrics. This measure aims to ensure accountability and demonstrate measurable outcomes for services aimed at addressing homelessness within the city.

The implementation of these performance standards for social services stands in contrast to the current approach for the city’s permitting software system, OpenGov. Reports indicate that OpenGov has been a source of difficulty and inefficiency for users, yet it has not been subjected to similar requirements for demonstrating performance effectiveness through specific metrics. The specific details regarding the performance metrics required for homeless service providers, including their exact formulation, the timeline for implementation, and the consequences for not meeting these benchmarks, were not provided.

The distinction in the application of performance measurement standards between social services and technological infrastructure raises questions about city-wide policy consistency. While the intention behind measuring the effectiveness of homeless outreach and support programs is to optimize resource allocation and improve service delivery, the absence of comparable metrics for critical city systems like OpenGov has not been detailed. The specific nature of the struggles with the OpenGov system, including the timeline of issues and the parties responsible for oversight, were not made public. Further information regarding the decision-making process for applying these performance metrics and any potential future plans for other city software systems was also not available.

Story summarized from the original created by Joe Eskenazi on missionlocal.org, see more information here.

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