Photo by Brandon Doran
Some homeless advocates are crying foul over a new, perfectly reasonable rule that has gone into effect allowing S.F.'s homeless shelters to deny services to individuals who act violently or who make threats of violence. The rule comes in response to a fatal stabbing last February in a SoMa homeless shelter in which 63-year-old Ricky Leon Scott was accused of murdering a fellow shelter occupant.
That incident occured at the Multi-Service Center South at 525 Fifth Street, a shelter run by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
City homeless czar Bevan Dufty applauds the new rule, but homeless advocate Ken Dotson (who's the editor of Street Sheet) argues to the HuffPo that it's a slippery slope, and that the rule "gives shelter staff a lot of power to act in a corrupt manner." San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness director Jennifer Friedenbach also voices objections, saying that homeless individuals' "bad moods" after waiting in long lines to get into shelters could be classified as "threatening" when they are not.
