Director of External Affairs at Compass Family Services, Mary Kate Bacalao, highlights how underspending on homelessness impacts both staff and people experiencing homelessness in her op-ed published by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Here is an excerpt:
Government contracts don’t pay full costs, which means among other things that contracts systematically underpay frontline workers. Across our sector, we’ve experienced years of high turnover rates and a steady state of vacancies in budgeted frontline roles. While staff burn out super-commuting and working multiple jobs, personnel budgets go underspent because we can’t pay enough in salaries to retain staff or re-hire when they leave.
For more, read the full piece from the SF Chronicle.