San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie unveils sweeping reforms to city's approach to homelessness, behavioral health
San Francisco's mayor on Monday unveiled an initiative to transform the city's homelessness, mental health, and drug addiction response with immediate and long-term actions.
Mayor Daniel Lurie signed an executive directive establishing his "Breaking the Cycle" initiative, which seeks to quickly add shelter capacity and services while streamlining the process of getting people from the street into permanent housing, according to the Mayor's Office. The effort would also involve reforming the city's policies and services, including launching a new model for the city's street outreach teams.
Lurie made the announcement Monday at a press conference a block from City Hall at Compass Family Services, a nonprofit that provides services to people experiencing homelessness.
The initiative would also "recalibrate" the city's partnership with nonprofits to improve coordinated services and ensure accountability for delivering outcomes, the office said in a press release. The city would also review its funding priorities depending on current needs and focus on moving people out of the city's system and into stable housing.
Longer term, the initiative would seek state and federal funding to expand homelessness services, use data and technology to drive decision-making, and review the entire organizational structure of the city's health, homelessness, human services, and housing programs to improve efficiency, accountability, and outcomes.
"I believe our city must be judged by how we care for our most vulnerable residents, and today, we are outlining immediate actions and long-term reforms to address the crisis on our streets," said Lurie in a prepared statement. "This directive will break the cycle of homelessness, addiction, and government failure by transforming our homelessness and behavioral health response. My administration is bringing a new era of accountability and will deliver outcomes that get people off the street and into stability."
Earlier this month, Lurie launched a public-private partnership to help families experiencing homelessness funded by his former Tipping Point Community nonprofit. The 18-month pilot program is designed to coordinate and tailor financial help, employment support, child care, and other services to help families stay housed, the Mayor's Office said.
Despite billions of dollars spent over decades, San Francisco's intractable homelessness and behavioral health problem continues to be an ever-increasing challenge. According to the Mayor's Office, about two people die every day from an overdose in the city, while the 2024 point-in-time count shows more than 8,000 people experience homelessness nightly. In what the office said is a clear indicator that the city's approach has not been working, 36% of the city's unhoused report experiencing chronic homelessness while continuously cycling through the city's systems.
