Legislation will reduce red tape and help City meet residents’ behavioral health needs as San Francisco continues to add beds for those struggling with mental health and substance use disorder.

S.F. Mayor’s Media Office

 Mayor London N. Breed, in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), introduced legislation Tuesday to make it easier to procure public health beds, and providing needed flexibility in obtaining much-needed mental health and/or substance use disorders beds. Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Hillary Ronen are co-sponsoring the legislation.

Since 2020, San Francisco has been expanding the supply of residential treatment and care beds to meet the need of people with a variety of behavioral health conditions. The City currently offers approximately 2,550 behavioral health treatment and care beds.

“We have been working to expand services for those struggling with mental health and addiction, and this legislation will allow us to move even faster to get people the care they need,” said Breed. “People are in crisis, and we can’t allow delays and bureaucracy to get in the way of getting people help. Our goal is to be able to deliver services as quickly as possible, and by removing these barriers, we can be ready when there are opportunities available to add beds to our system.”

At a time when clients in need of residential care are most vulnerable, San Francisco often has to compete with other counties and health care systems for out of county beds and often miss opportunities due to the City’s time-consuming request for proposals (RFP) process.

The proposed ordinance would waive the lengthy RFP process required for SFDPH to contract beds for public health use in third-party facilities both in and outside of San Francisco, while still adhering to key transparency and accountability measures.

“Our goal is to provide people the treatment and care they need as fast as possible. This legislation will help us do just that,” said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax. “This will allow us to secure beds more quickly when the opportunity arises.”

By waiving the lengthy RFP process SFDPH is currently required to undergo when contracting beds for public health use from third-party facilities, the City hopes to:

• Reduce wait times for beds to quickly meet the city’s high demand
• Provide greater diversity of potential providers who may not otherwise respond to RFPs due to bureaucratic hurdles
• Provide flexibility for individual clients with specific placement needs
• The proposed ordinance is limited in scope and only waives the RFP process for public health beds, including residential care and treatment and isolation and quarantine beds.

“For people with serious mental health or substance use disorders, it is vital for their health that we are able to provide care that is timely and appropriate for their needs.Waiting for that care can adversely affect their health and our community,” said Dr. Hillary Kunins, Director of Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health SF at SFDPH.

The ordinance will waive the RFP process for five years. However, SFDPH will still adhere to City contracting checks and balances, as well as its own internal measures, to ensure that all providers comply with Federal, State and local contract monitoring recruitments.

Currently, SFDPH is at a disadvantage when acquiring out-of-county beds. Because of the City’s contracting process, competing counties and health care systems with fewer bureaucratic barriers can move more quickly than San Francisco and claim available beds for themselves.

This creates a challenge for the City when placing clients in need of residential care in a timely manner.

After introduction, the legislation will sit for 30 days before the Board of Supervisors conducts hearings and then ultimately votes on whether to approve the legislation. The ordinance requires majority approval by the Board of Supervisors.

For more information about San Francisco’s work to expand treatment beds and services, please visit this page or go to https://londonbreed.medium.com/expanding-treatment-in-san-francisco-e0acfcc980bc

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