{"id":398765,"date":"2026-07-15T02:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T02:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/398765\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T02:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T02:20:07","slug":"s-f-supervisors-vote-to-prioritize-drug-free-permanent-supportive-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/398765\/","title":{"rendered":"S.F. supervisors vote to prioritize drug-free permanent supportive housing\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following a 7-4 vote to approve a controversial housing ordinance, San Francisco must now prioritize drug-free permanent supportive housing when it chooses to fully fund supportive housing projects.<\/p>\n

The ordinance, authored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey, will ensure that the city departs from its mostly one-track housing model, in which most of the tenants in the city\u2019s 8,500 supportive housing units are protected from being evicted for illicit drug use.<\/p>\n

That protection follows the state\u2019s \u201cHousing First<\/a>\u201d framework, which lowers the barriers to entry into supportive housing for people using homelessness, whether or not they use drugs. Any housing project that uses state funding to operate is held to this standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This ordinance \u201cbars the city\u201d from wholly funding future permanent supportive housing projects if they allow drug use on site.<\/p>\n

Under the bill, residents who use illicit drugs while living in city or privately funded supportive housing could either be evicted or relocated to another housing or shelter option.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supervisors Shamann Walton, Connie Chan, Chyanne Chen and Jackie Fielder voted against the bill on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

Fielder led the opposition, pointing to what she called \u201cproblematic\u201d terminology in the bill language, and voiced concern that evictions could relocate residents into shelters instead of permanent housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI fear the legislation lacks strong protocols for providing support to residents facing eviction,\u201d Fielder said. \u201cShelter is not housing. Shelter is a rough place for someone struggling with substance-use disorder to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

She requested an amendment to the bill removing shelters as relocation options for residents in permanent supportive housing who use illicit drugs on the premises. That amendment failed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Few S.F. permanent supportive housing projects get built without state money. At present, the 42 units at 1174 Folsom St., which opened in early 2025 and was funded entirely by the city, offers the city\u2019s only drug-free housing option.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a staunch advocate for \u201crecovery-first\u201d addiction policies, Dorsey said the new ordinance would shift away from what he considers \u201cdrug-tolerant\u201d city policies and focus on providing stable housing options for those who are chronically homeless and facing substance use disorders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe near universality of drug-tolerant policies in San Francisco\u2019s PSH portfolio fails to serve the needs of many PSH residents seeking to stabilize their lives as they exit homelessness,\u201d Dorsey\u2019s bill reads. \u201cDrug-related behaviors and associated lawlessness lead to public nuisances that routinely rob law-abiding PSH residents and neighbors of the quiet enjoyment of their own residences and neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some housing advocates disagree<\/a>, saying that it\u2019s not helpful to attack the Housing First model in order to establish sober housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now that the bill has passed, Dorsey said city leaders will work to finalize the specifics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While there are details to be worked out with the mayor\u2019s office and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Dorsey said the intent is clear: \u201cWe want to give people a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following a 7-4 vote to approve a controversial housing ordinance, San Francisco must now prioritize drug-free permanent supportive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[6702,405,1011,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-398765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-board-of-supervisors","tag-government","tag-housing","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\/398765","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=398765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}