In SF, as in many other large cities, there has been a large "housing first" push, meaning you first need to stabilize people's lives by housing them before you can move on to dealing with other serious conditions (mental illness, medical issues, whatever).

WHile I am all for it, Mayor "I want to be Governor" Gavin Newsom has put all his homeless money into only housing the most visible homeless, meaning those street folks that all the tourists complain about (rightfully so). So, basically, if he can be known as The Guy Who Made SF more Disneylike, he'll have a better chance at the governorship, and if some old homeless males get housed along the way, great! (who cares about homeless mothers with children, they aren't blocking the sidewalk!)

What I love about this is, there are a bunch of hardcore homeless that hang around city hall, and now that they are all housed, what do they do all day? Stand around and drink. SUre, it really is better for the city, cost-wise, but it leaves the Mayor standing there with the FAIL sign blinking on his forehead.