{"id":395065,"date":"2026-07-11T22:07:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/395065\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T22:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:07:47","slug":"san-francisco-moves-toward-drug-free-permanent-supportive-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/395065\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco moves toward drug-free permanent supportive housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco\u2019s open-air drug problem is chronic, lethal, and seemingly impossible to cure. The latest attempt at mitigation is Supervisor Matt Dorsey\u2019s Drug-free Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) proposal. The legislation is cosponsored by Board President Rafael Mandelman and Supervisors Stephen Sherrill, Danny Sauter, Bilal Mahmood and Alan Wong.<\/p>\n

Dorsey\u2019s proposal aims to shift San Francisco away from its current universal \u201charm-reduction-only\u201d model. It introduces an Alternative Funding Pathway that stops city funding for new site-based PSH developments unless they incorporate a lease provision prohibiting on-site illicit drug use.<\/p>\n

Initially introduced in April, the proposal immediately irked Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness. After a full board vote in May, the legislation was sent back to the committee to incorporate substantial amendments.<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: Supervisors Alan Wong, Matt Dorsey, and Danny Sauter at the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee meeting on July 9 at City Hall. | Erica Sandberg for The Voice<\/p>\n

The fourth version of the ordinance was reviewed on July 9 at the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee hearing. Dorsey, Sauter, and Wong attended. The four primary objectives of Dorsey\u2019s proposal:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Require new city-funded PSH to prohibit illicit drug use on the site.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Guarantee that no resident of drug-free PSH would be evicted for a single relapse.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Survey residents to quantify their choice for drug-free or drug-tolerant housing options.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Establish city policy that will meet residents\u2019 demand for drug-free and drug-tolerant options.<\/p>\n

Of the approximately 9,000 units of PSH in San Francisco, nearly all are considered drug-tolerant, meaning they allow tenants to use illegal substances. It\u2019s a provision of the Housing First policy, which was adopted at the federal level in 2014. This policy ensures that homeless people are prioritized for housing, with no expectation of sobriety or treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way is to be in an environment where I can be clean and sober. Everybody deserves that environment. San Francisco deserves better.\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0TRP Academy participant<\/p>\n

The intention of such rule-free housing is that once a person has been placed indoors, they will be offered help to maintain stability. On paper, it should improve their well-being. In reality, deep flaws have emerged. The choice between leaving vulnerable people on the streets and putting them within four walls hasn\u2019t been the hoped-for panacea.<\/p>\n

Data collected by the Voice of San Francisco and Mothers Against Drug Addiction and Deaths cofounder Gina McDonald show that 784 people lost their lives to overdose in drug-tolerant PSH between 2020 and 2025.<\/p>\n

In response, the intention behind drug-free PSH is to give people who struggle with addiction to street drugs and homelessness the opportunity to maintain sobriety and live in a safe space. Legal substances such as alcohol and medically assisted treatment (MAT) will be permitted.<\/p>\n

Friedenbach still objects, and in a July 7 Facebook post<\/a>, she urged people to attend the meeting:<\/p>\n

Join us on Thursday for the last opportunity to give public comment and tell our elected officials that we demand no evictions for return to use in permanent supportive housing!! Everyone deserves care, dignity and a home while they recover. Evicting for drug use will only increase street homelessness and leave people without support or services.<\/p>\n

\"\"Supervisor Matt Dorsey and Coalition on Homeless Executive Director Jennifer Friedenbach in a tense exchange at the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee meeting on July 9 at City Hall. | Erica Sandberg for The Voice<\/p>\n

At the meeting, Dorsey once again made the case for his legislation, explaining that he has made amendments in response to concerns. In an interview after the hearing, Dorsey said he has believes he has enough cosponsors to secure passage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think even the objections I heard today feel to me more minor than they had been in months past,\u201d he said. \u201cSome of the recommended amendments included things like postponing the whole thing until we did a survey and making a pilot program. Today I think we\u2019re being asked for things that are nibbling around the edges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorsey added that public opinion data is clear: \u201cWe have data for what San Franciscans want,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it ever went to the voters it would be very clear about where they would be. People want drug-free supportive housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest sticking point remains the provision that a person would be asked to leave if they relapse and use more than once. Dorsey said allowing for perpetual relapses would defeat the purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were to authorize perpetual relapses in drug-free housing, it ceases to be drug-free housing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to protect the integrity of a drug-free environment if it will offer benefits to the people who are seeking it. It\u2019s not just people in recovery. It\u2019s family members, especially with children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorsey also pointed to conditions in existing drug-tolerant buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a guy on social media who takes videos; he\u2019s in a drug-tolerant building and if you look at what\u2019s playing out just in the hallways, it\u2019s a very chaotic drug scene that\u2019s going on,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very disruptive to the community. There are also externalities around drug use that play out in the neighborhoods. Some of the worst offenders have rates of calls for service that are just police calls at two per day. That\u2019s an extraordinarily high call-for-service rate at a residential facility. We know what that is. It\u2019s all drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorsey also emphasized that a recent citywide survey found that 69 percent of respondents said they want drug-free housing.<\/p>\n

Despite Friedenbach\u2019s call to action, the majority of the people who spoke during public comment supported the legislation. Many came from the TRP Academy, an abstinence-based reentry therapeutic teaching community and transitional housing program.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrug-free housing should be mandatory,\u201d said one TRP Academy participant. \u201cThe only way is to be in an environment where I can be clean and sober. Everybody deserves the environment. San Francisco deserves better,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

Richard Beale, cofounder of Brothers Against Drug Deaths, is nearly 31 years sober and said he believes everyone deserves an environment where accountability can grow. He then led a \u201cRecovery first\u201d chant in the chambers.<\/p>\n

Another commenter in favor of the legislation noted that \u201cwhen an individual\u2019s lifestyle choices affect society, society must intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opposing the measure was \u201cJunebug\u201d Kealoha with the Coalition on Homelessness. She claimed that \u201chousing is a human right, housing is recovery,\u201d and that using substances should not be a reason for removal from PSH. Others were fine with the proposal but thought the number of acceptable relapses should be expanded to two or more.<\/p>\n

At the end of the hearing, Dorsey, Sauter and Wong approved the proposal, which will go to the full board on Tuesday, July 14.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco\u2019s open-air drug problem is chronic, lethal, and seemingly impossible to cure. The latest attempt at mitigation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-395065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}