Bay Area

S.F. Board of Supervisors OKs Mayor Breed’s Streamlining Legislation to Speed Up New Residential Treatment, Care Beds

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation sponsored by Mayor London N. Breed to make it easier to procure public health beds and provide needed flexibility in obtaining much-needed mental health and/or substance use disorders beds.

Published

3 years ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Approved 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. iStock image by maximbg.

By S.F. Mayor’s Office

Approved on Tuesday, the legislation was put forward in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and co-sponsored by Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Hillary Ronen.

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. Under Breed’s expansion plan, the City has added 355 beds, so there is now a total of approximately 2,550 behavioral health treatment and care beds. The City has additional plans to expand this further this year.

These beds come at a critical time for San Francisco as it becomes the first county in California to implement the new state conservatorship laws under Senate Bill 43, which became effective Jan. 1.

While other counties are delaying implementation, Mayor Breed issued an executive directive to begin the process of submitting people for conservatorship under these new laws at the beginning of the year. Along with CARE Court, which became effective last fall, San Francisco has more tools available to help get people into the care they need.

“This streamlining law is exactly the kind of tool we need to deliver services faster for those in need, and I appreciate the Board of Supervisors for quickly approving it so we can get more people help,” Breed said. “When people in our city see people struggling on our street, they want us to move faster and more aggressively to get people into care. Too often we cling to long, bureaucratic processes that stand in the way of solutions, and I’m grateful for support for this common-sense legislation that will expedite our ability to acquire beds and save lives.”

At a time when clients in need of residential care are most vulnerable, and San Francisco is vying for out-of-county beds along with other counties and health systems, the City and County continues to find ways to be more competitive.

The approved ordinance waives 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.

“With the recent expansion of our conservatorship laws through SB 43, it is critical that we have the treatment placements necessary to meet increased demand,” said Mandelman.

“We are experiencing a severe behavioral health crisis on the streets of our city and this legislation will allow our health professionals to better serve individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorder immediately,” said Ronen.

“Accelerating the process to obtain these critical treatment beds will better serve our most vulnerable clients,” said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax. “Thank you to Mayor Breed and our sponsoring Board of Supervisors for championing this legislation to address our residents’ behavioral health needs and streamline contracting.”

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 will be able 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 approved 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.

“We want to ensure treatment options are available and provide appropriate care as quickly as possible, especially for people with serious mental health or substance use disorders,” said Dr. Hillary Kunins, Director of Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health SF at SFDPH. “Our continued goal is to get more people the treatment they may need and make treatment more accessible, putting them on a path to recovery and wellness.

The approved ordinance waives 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.

For more information about San Francisco’s work to expand treatment beds and services, please visit this page or https://londonbreed.medium.com/expanding-treatment-in-san-francisco-e0acfcc980bc

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Intriguing Insights: Joy-Ann Reid Explores Medgar and Myrlie Evers’ Love Story and Impact on Civil Rights

Don't Miss

Opponents of San Francisco’s Prop E Hold Rally in Front of City Hall

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

Published

4 days ago

September 7, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

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.”

Published

2 weeks ago

August 29, 2026

Post News Group

Dawna Williams, EOBA executive director speaks to attendees at the Black August Eperience on Aug. 21. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Flynn of EOBA.

By Jana Lang Propel Youth Reporter

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.