quality and unsafe, but also as a source of cronyism and graft. Many critics, such as Alioto, point out that the premise of the law does not affect the main class of homeless, the so-called "hardcore homeless," who Alioto claims are by and large so mentally unstable as to not even know how to collect General Assistance in the first place. Additionally, Eugene Dong MD, JD, an Associate Professor of Cardiac Surgery Emeritus at Stanford University, conducted an independent investigation of the cost of the program and proclaimed, "[the] program just does not add up." Dong said that the city claims to have used $14,000,000 to house just 1,000 people, suggesting the city spent $14,000.00 per housed recipient per year, or $1,226.00 per month, rather than the $410.00, which was the maximum monthly benefit. Dong believes that difference, or 70 percent of the county welfare fund, went "directly to the hotel owners in the form of cash payments and capital improvements that they would not otherwise have received." Dong also said that the CNC Program did not actually decrease the numbers of homeless, since in the same year, the numbers of homeless in the surrounding communities swelled commensurately. Progress A study released February 9, 2005, indicated that the number of County Adult Assistance Programs (CAAP) residents who declared themselves to be homeless residents of San Francisco had decreased from 2,497 to 679 since implementation of Care Not Cash in May 2004. As of January 2007, the caseload had decreased further to 333, although Mayor Newsom acknowledged in a radio interview that two or three new homeless persons come to San Francisco for each homeless person that gets off the streets. Update 2016 San Francisco report, following 1,820 homeless adults for eight years from 2007 to 2015, showed that before entering the program living on their own, costs averaged $21,000/person due to urgent emergency care, jail time, and behavioral health services. And after entering supportive housing, costs initially more than doubled for ongoing housing, medical care, and mental health by 2011, but then started decreasing yearly since by 56% in 2015. See also Welfare in California References External links Religious Witness Position Paper: Opposing Prop N (Care not Cash), Indybay.org, October 9, 2002. Politics of San Francisco 2002 in American law Welfare in California Homelessness in the United States Housing in California Gavin Newsom