Measure To Change San Francisco Homeless Program Won't Go Forward

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) --- A controversial measure to change San Francisco's Care Not Cash Program will no longer be on the November ballot after San Francisco Supervisors Jane Kim and Eric Mar decided to withdraw their support of the measure.

Care Not Cash, designed by then-Supervisor Gavin Newsom, was approved by voters in 2002. It sharply reduces the monthly cash stipend for homeless people and offers services and shelter instead. The measure being put forward would have stopped the city from setting aside Care Not Cash recipients, so there would be more for the elderly and disabled.

KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:

Bob Offer-Westort, with the Coalition on Homelessness, said he's disappointed in the way things turned out, but he added this got the issue into the public eye.

"There's this problem of access for people with disabilities and senior citizens," he said. "And we need a solution for it."

Mayor Ed Lee hammered out a deal to make changes into how shelter beds are assigned to the homeless, but Offer-Westort said he's not impressed.

"They have a pretty big barrier of bad faith to overcome," he said.

Human Services director Trent Rhorer argued the measure would have dismantled Care Not Cash, which he says has been successful, and the city would have had to go back to giving cash grants.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)