Bay Area
Mayor Breed to Introduce Ordinance to Speed Up Process of Securing Residential Treatment, Care Beds
Mayor London N. Breed, in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), introduced legislation Tuesday to make it easier to procure public health beds, and providing needed flexibility in obtaining much-needed mental health and/or substance use disorders beds. Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Hillary Ronen are co-sponsoring the legislation.
Legislation will reduce red tape and help City meet residents’ behavioral health needs as San Francisco continues to add beds for those struggling with mental health and substance use disorder.
S.F. Mayor’s Media Office
Mayor London N. Breed, in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), introduced legislation Tuesday to make it easier to procure public health beds, and providing needed flexibility in obtaining much-needed mental health and/or substance use disorders beds. Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Hillary Ronen are co-sponsoring the legislation.
Since 2020, San Francisco has been expanding the supply of residential treatment and care beds to meet the need of people with a variety of behavioral health conditions. The City currently offers approximately 2,550 behavioral health treatment and care beds.
“We have been working to expand services for those struggling with mental health and addiction, and this legislation will allow us to move even faster to get people the care they need,” said Breed. “People are in crisis, and we can’t allow delays and bureaucracy to get in the way of getting people help. Our goal is to be able to deliver services as quickly as possible, and by removing these barriers, we can be ready when there are opportunities available to add beds to our system.”
At a time when clients in need of residential care are most vulnerable, San Francisco often has to compete with other counties and health care systems for out of county beds and often miss opportunities due to the City’s time-consuming request for proposals (RFP) process.
The proposed ordinance would waive the lengthy RFP process required for SFDPH to contract beds for public health use in third-party facilities both in and outside of San Francisco, while still adhering to key transparency and accountability measures.
“Our goal is to provide people the treatment and care they need as fast as possible. This legislation will help us do just that,” said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax. “This will allow us to secure beds more quickly when the opportunity arises.”
By waiving the lengthy RFP process SFDPH is currently required to undergo when contracting beds for public health use from third-party facilities, the City hopes to:
- Reduce wait times for beds to quickly meet the city’s high demand
- Provide greater diversity of potential providers who may not otherwise respond to RFPs due to bureaucratic hurdles
- Provide flexibility for individual clients with specific placement needs
- The proposed ordinance is limited in scope and only waives the RFP process for public health beds, including residential care and treatment and isolation and quarantine beds.
“For people with serious mental health or substance use disorders, it is vital for their health that we are able to provide care that is timely and appropriate for their needs.Waiting for that care can adversely affect their health and our community,” said Dr. Hillary Kunins, Director of Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health SF at SFDPH.
The ordinance will waive the RFP process for five years. However, SFDPH will still adhere to City contracting checks and balances, as well as its own internal measures, to ensure that all providers comply with Federal, State and local contract monitoring recruitments.
Currently, SFDPH is at a disadvantage when acquiring out-of-county beds. Because of the City’s contracting process, competing counties and health care systems with fewer bureaucratic barriers can move more quickly than San Francisco and claim available beds for themselves.
This creates a challenge for the City when placing clients in need of residential care in a timely manner.
After introduction, the legislation will sit for 30 days before the Board of Supervisors conducts hearings and then ultimately votes on whether to approve the legislation. The ordinance requires majority approval by the Board of Supervisors.
For more information about San Francisco’s work to expand treatment beds and services, please visit this page or go to https://londonbreed.medium.com/expanding-treatment-in-san-francisco-e0acfcc980bc
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of September 9 – 15, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 9 – 15, 2026
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026
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Activism
Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association
The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”
Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association
The East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA) and Youth Alive! came together on Aug. 21 to share with their community all that Black August means to them.
Held on EOBA’s patio at 816 98th Ave. in Deep East Oakland, the two organizations hosted their second annual Black August Experience, featuring a food tasting, financial literacy and mindfulness workshops, and voter registration with the League of Women Voters Oakland (LWV).
Black August is known as a time to uphold the legacy of prisoners who protested their conditions by fasting, fighting, and educating themselves on the economic and political circumstances that contributed to their incarceration.
According to its website, “EOBA is a multi-service youth and community development hub that goes far beyond the ring. While rooted in the discipline of boxing, for nearly 40 years EOBA has also integrated robust programs in workforce development, food justice, afterschool enrichment, financial literacy, mentorship, and wellness.”.
The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”
Through Coro California, another leadership organization serving young people across the state for 80 years, they gained a broader understanding of Black August.
EOBA Executive Director Dawna Williams spoke about how much she learned about Black August from the youth who created it. “I let them educate me,” she said. Instead of talking about prison reform and mass incarceration, Williams and youth interns found that Black August meant so much more. “We would have done a disservice if we had just focused on who the people were and what their situation was…We tried to take their message from back in the day and make it relevant to the young people today. What do they need to know?”
Youth interns created and placed posters around the patio to help participants understand how traditional Black foodways, civic engagement, financial literacy, and the power of education are relevant to Black resistance today.
An EOBA member described Black August with Youth ALIVE! as “a whole vibe. “This year we added the Fun Zone for the kids, because you really cannot go wrong with a Fun Zone. I also loved seeing everyone chillin’ in the outdoor lounge, catching some Vitamin D and just enjoying a Friday evening together.”
The food tasting, a popular event from last year, featured traditional Black foods such as black-eyed peas, johnny cakes, and fried chicken. Led by Williams, the tasting included a talk about how these traditional foods were made and why they are forms of Black resilience.
The “‘Plate of History’ was a favorite of the online writers. “Fun, educational, and did I mention delicious? Our Taste of History cook, Angela Southall, served up some good eats while connecting food to history and culture.”
The writer also commended the “League of Women Voters Oakland for their civic leadership and for getting our young people informed, ready, and registered to vote.”
Overall, it was a “good Friday event in East Oakland,” the writer said.
Upcoming Black August events: Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The websites for East Oakland Boxing Association, Youth Alive! and CORO are sources for this report.
Jana Lang is an Oakland resident, teacher, gardener and poet participating in the Propel News Initiative.
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