When the U.S. Navy base on Treasure Island closed in 1994, the city of San Francisco formed the Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative (TIHDI) as part of the land use plan. In 1996, TIHDI finalized an agreement with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to reuse existing housing units and create job opportunities for homeless and economically disadvantaged San Franciscans. Many of the homeless families who moved to Treasure Island in the early years after the base was decommissioned had small children then; by 2015, there were many teenagers living on the island with limited services or support.
Facente Consulting was hired by TIHDI (now One Treasure Island) to conduct a needs assessment of youth living on Treasure Island, determining their service needs and developing concrete recommendations for programmatic changes to address any gaps in services. This formative research included qualitative interviews with various service providers, focus groups in English and Spanish with youth and low-income families residing on the island, and facilitation of a series of open town halls. After publishing the final needs assessment report, Facente Consulting developed a services plan to assist TIHDI in supporting Treasure Island residents with children over the following five years, during the early phases of a $1.6 billion buildout of Treasure Island beginning in 2017.