Hearing: Treatment on Demand

Over half of those unhoused suffer from substance use disorder (SUD).  We see them daily using drugs, doubled over, or passed out on the street.  We recognize that their path out of homelessness involves treatment, but an obstacle to recovery is the shortage of treatment beds.  In 1997, voters approved Proposition T (Treatment on Demand).  It requires the City to provide enough substance use treatment to serve those who are ready for recovery.  Over 20 years later, our City has not yet met that mandate.  And today, fewer than 30 beds are available for SUD treatment which doesn’t match demand.    On October 27, 2022, the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee is conducting a hearing on the current state of “Treatment on Demand.”  Supervisors plan to ask the Department of Public Health how they will provide treatment within a reasonable timeframe and about their plan to close gaps in treatment capacity.

Call to Action

Please speak up for real Treatment on Demand by emailing Supervisors and/or giving public comment at the hearing on Thursday, October 27 at 10 am.

• Click here to easily email the Supervisor committee members
• Click here for the public comment dial-in process and sample comment

Want to Know More  

Here’s more info on the current potential demand for and supply of treatment beds.  For the number of people with substance use disorders (the total potential demand for treatment), see San Francisco’s 2022 Point in Time Count (page 41.)  It reports that 52% of respondents suffer from drug or alcohol abuse.  This is a 10% increase over the last survey in 2019.  For the current supply of treatment beds go to Find Treatment SF and then click on “Find Substance Use Residential Treatment.”  As of Oct. 16, 2022, the San Francisco Department of Public Health had 27 available beds.  And here’s the 2021-2022 Annual Report on Treatment on Demand which will be discussed at the hearing.