Nonprofit Sustainability

Nonprofit Sustainability Work

Nonprofit sustainability and wage equity have been major themes throughout the pandemic recovery phase and are essential to the success of our community partners and HSH funded programs.  The FY 22-23 budget recognizes the criticality of addressing these issues in order to achieve system equity goals and to stabilize service delivery.

HSH Sustainability Investments:

In the FY 22-23 budget HSH made critical new investments in our nonprofit organization and their staff, including:

• $3 million per year to adjust Permanent Supportive Housing and Transitional Housing program budgets to support a wage floor of  $28/hour for case managers
• $12 million per year to adjust Permanent Supportive Housing and Transitional Housing program budgets to support increased wages for desk clerks, janitors and maintenance workers
• $16 million per year to reduce case management ratios in Permanent Supportive Housing and Transitional Housing to 1:25 for adults and 1:20 for families and TAY buildings
• $70M citywide for 5.25% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on labor costs in GF contracts in FY 22-23
• $16.6M citywide  for 2.5% cost-of-doing-business (CODB) increase on non-labor costs in GF contracts FY 22-23
• $11 million to “re-base” congregate shelter grant budgets and implement enhanced services/staffing/wages across interim housing portfolio
• $5 million in one-time funds for PSH improvements – health/safety upgrades, building wi-fi, common space rehab, site repairs, etc.
• $300,000 for trauma-informed practice training and capacity building for CBO providers
• $600,000 in one-time and $300,000 per year ongoing for BIPOC-led provider capacity building

In addition to HSH’s work on nonprofit sustainability, the Controller’s office has been convening a policy group comprised of the City departments that hold a significant number of contracts with nonprofits.  The Controller’s office has dedicated staff to supporting, researching and facilitating these ongoing discussion.  In May the Controller’s office issued a memo with Citywide recommendations, including:

1. The City must identify strategies above a standard inflationary CODB to address wage issues faced by the City’s nonprofit contractors.
2. The City should plan for needed investments to solve for wage constraints as part of a multi-year strategy.
3. Multiple, complementary long-term strategies are needed. Short-term options include:
   1. Apply a COLA above an CODB allocation
   2. Develop specific budget allocations to address wage pressures in key service areas with planned expansion
4. Transition from annual CODBs to a process where multi-year contracts include a planned increase/escalator in subsequent years.
5. Develop a comprehensive data-driven plan to address the ongoing wage pressures faced by nonprofit contractors and make structural overhauls where needed.

To keep nonprofit partners informed about this work, HSH will make resources and documents available to our community.  Check back regularly as we will be adding materials and resources on an ongoing basis.

• San Francisco Controller’s Office Memo: Findings and Recommendations for Addressing Nonprofit Wage Pressures
• HSH’s Presentation: Nonprofit Sustainability & Equity Investments (March 2022)
• Corporation for Supportive Housing Report: San Francisco Services & Staffing Recommendations