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Mayor urges Board to move on conservatorship and backs more behavioral health beds
Summary
Mayor London Breed urged the Board of Supervisors to adopt proposed conservatorship legislation and highlighted recent city investments in behavioral health beds and services, saying new laws and more residential beds are needed to help people with serious mental illness and substance use disorder.
Mayor London Breed used her five‑minute appearance at the Board of Supervisors on May 14 to press supervisors to advance legislation to expand conservatorship for people with severe mental illness and substance use disorder.
“We have to make changes now if we want to change what we're dealing with in San Francisco,” Breed told the Board. She said the city, working with Supervisor Rafael Mandelmann and other cosponsors, had proposed legislation that followed state action and would “bring care to those our current laws can't reach.”
Breed cited recent and planned investments the city is making in behavioral health capacity: “We have funded a hundred new behavioral health beds ... 72 new substance use recovery beds, and 14 new beds at Hummingbird. On top of that, yesterday we announced that in this upcoming budget, we are going to fund 30 more beds for people suffering from mental health and substance use disorder.” She described those step‑down beds and wrap‑around services as a key component to move people out of hospitals and into residential treatment while freeing acute beds.
The mayor also referenced state legislation, saying, “Governor Brown signed SB 1045 in September, allowing us to take action here locally and through our conservatorship program,” and said city staff and stakeholders had worked on an implementation plan. Breed criticized committee delays and said yesterday’s committee vote to delay the item had included concerns that the proposal could increase criminal justice involvement; she pushed back: “When we bring someone under a 51‑50 involuntary hold to the hospital, we are bringing a person who is in crisis into care... We should not confuse crisis care with locking people up in jail.”
Breed and supporters framed the measure as part of a broader effort to strengthen the local mental‑health system, including designating a director of mental health reform. She concluded, “People in San Francisco want us to take action... No more delays.” The mayor’s remarks were filed and the item were referred to committee for further consideration.
