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S.F. Board of Supervisors OKs Mayor Breed’s Streamlining Legislation to Speed Up New Residential Treatment, Care Beds

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation sponsored by Mayor London N. Breed to make it easier to procure public health beds and provide needed flexibility in obtaining much-needed mental health and/or substance use disorders beds.

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Approved 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. iStock image by maximbg.
Approved 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. iStock image by maximbg.

By S.F. Mayor’s Office 

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation sponsored by Mayor London N. Breed to make it easier to procure public health beds and provide needed flexibility in obtaining much-needed mental health and/or substance use disorders beds.

Approved on Tuesday, the legislation was put forward in partnership with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and co-sponsored by Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Hillary Ronen.

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. Under Breed’s expansion plan, the City has added 355 beds, so there is now a total of approximately 2,550 behavioral health treatment and care beds. The City has additional plans to expand this further this year.

These beds come at a critical time for San Francisco as it becomes the first county in California to implement the new state conservatorship laws under Senate Bill 43, which became effective Jan. 1.

While other counties are delaying implementation, Mayor Breed issued an executive directive to begin the process of submitting people for conservatorship under these new laws at the beginning of the year.  Along with CARE Court, which became effective last fall, San Francisco has more tools available to help get people into the care they need.

“This streamlining law is exactly the kind of tool we need to deliver services faster for those in need, and I appreciate the Board of Supervisors for quickly approving it so we can get more people help,” Breed said. “When people in our city see people struggling on our street, they want us to move faster and more aggressively to get people into care. Too often we cling to long, bureaucratic processes that stand in the way of solutions, and I’m grateful for support for this common-sense legislation that will expedite our ability to acquire beds and save lives.”

At a time when clients in need of residential care are most vulnerable, and San Francisco is vying for out-of-county beds along with other counties and health systems, the City and County continues to find ways to be more competitive.

The approved ordinance waives 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.

“With the recent expansion of our conservatorship laws through SB 43, it is critical that we have the treatment placements necessary to meet increased demand,” said Mandelman.

“We are experiencing a severe behavioral health crisis on the streets of our city and this legislation will allow our health professionals to better serve individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorder immediately,” said Ronen.

 

“Accelerating the process to obtain these critical treatment beds will better serve our most vulnerable clients,” said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax. “Thank you to Mayor Breed and our sponsoring Board of Supervisors for championing this legislation to address our residents’ behavioral health needs and streamline contracting.”

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 will be able 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 approved 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.

“We want to ensure treatment options are available and provide appropriate care as quickly as possible, especially for people with serious mental health or substance use disorders,” said Dr. Hillary Kunins, Director of Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health SF at SFDPH. “Our continued goal is to get more people the treatment they may need and make treatment more accessible, putting them on a path to recovery and wellness.

The approved ordinance waives 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.

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

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

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Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.
Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron RichmondCAER and  Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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