San Jose introduced a new initiative on Tuesday aimed at addressing the city’s homelessness crisis.

City officials noted that of the 5,000 unhoused residents in San Jose, around 20% originally came from outside Santa Clara County.

To help reduce homelessness, Mayor Matt Mahan announced that the city will offer train or bus tickets to individuals who have a willing family member or friend ready to support them.

“Whether their loved one lives nearby, elsewhere in the state, or even out of state, we want to ensure they’re truly prepared to take them in,” Mahan said.

The pilot program, called “Homeward Bound,” is a $200,000 reunification effort included in the city budget. Mahan emphasized that participation is voluntary and noted that some families are already searching for relatives they’ve lost contact with due to homelessness.

“The Homeward Bound program will be available alongside shelters, tiny homes, and permanent supportive housing as part of a broader strategy,” said Erik Soliván, San Jose’s Director of Housing.

Kama Fletcher, Director of Development at Neighborhood Hands, praised the initiative. “Our unhoused neighbors face many challenges on their path out of homelessness, and we appreciate the city’s efforts to reconnect them with their support systems,” she said.

However, some advocates argue that the program simply shifts the problem elsewhere rather than solving it. The concept is not new—similar initiatives have been implemented in U.S. cities since the 1980s with mixed results and ongoing debate.

In 2023, San Francisco expanded its “Journey Home” program, where then-Mayor London Breed ordered that homeless individuals be offered bus tickets out of the city before other services. This decision followed data showing that 40% of San Francisco’s unhoused population had come from other counties in California.

Acknowledging the program’s limitations, Mahan expressed hope that it could be one of many solutions.

“We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said. “Solving this issue requires multiple strategies and recognizing that people become homeless for different reasons—so the solutions must be just as varied.”