SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — It’s been three months since San Fransico opened its Rapid Enforcement, Support, Evaluation and Triage (RESET) Center to get drug users off the streets.

There have been 1,269 people admitted to the center on Sixth Street, according to the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office. Of those, 433 people have accepted referrals to treatment programs, recovery services and support resources. Chief Deputy James Quanico says there’s been a clear improvement in San Francisco.

“Night and day from 2018 to driving around the city today, you can see the improvement, the collaboration,” said Chief Quanico.


Jury awards $33 million to girls orphaned by Redwood City street racers

The RESET Center is part of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Breaking The Cycle initiative. When officers arrest someone for public drug use or intoxication, they take them to the center instead of a hospital or jail. San Francisco Supervisors approved a $14.5 million, 26-month contract to hire Connections Health Solutions to provide care at the RESET Center.

“They get paid on assuring that they meet the standards that are acquired in the contract, and I think that’s a huge plus, whereas going with a non-profit sometimes you don’t see that,” said Chief Quanico.

While he prefers the results of a profit incentive, others are critical of the model. Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness Jennifer Friedenbach says there’s a problem when a sobering center provides medical care, but not medically assisted treatment.

“Would have an incentive not to call an ambulance because the money sign is clicking, tick, tick, tick,” said Friedenbach. “More and more money the longer they keep people so that’s really not good.”

Friedenbach would rather see more investment in restore beds, where addicts get treatment with things like buprenorphine.

She says making addicts choose between jail time or a sobering center will never break the cycle of addiction they struggle with.


Outside Lands attendees report phones stolen, tracked to Los Angeles

“What you don’t want to do is layer on additional trauma that basically is creating stigma and pushing away from seeking help,” said Friedenbach.

Chief Quanico says a big benefit of the RESET Center is that it often takes officers less than five minutes to get a person admitted, compared to the several hours they are with a person at a jail or hospital.