San Francisco holds legally required public hearing after mayor's budget proposes millions in public health cuts

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors convened a state-mandated public hearing June 25 on proposed reductions to the Department of Public Health budget, hearing hours of testimony from DPH leaders, supervisors and community-based organizations about potential impacts on behavioral health, violence-intervention services, oral health and food-access programs.

DPH Director Grant Colfax told the board the hearing was being held "pursuant to California Health and Safety Code section 1442.5" and outlined a set of draft reductions the department is required to present before final decisions. "Should these reductions remain in the budget, we will do all we can to work with CBOs and mitigate impacts of these reductions," Colfax said.

The most significant proposal described by DPH staff is a second-year, 5% across-the-board cut to contracts with community-based organizations (CBOs) for services that do not leverage state or federal matching funds; DPH estimated the reduction would total about $10 million and said behavioral health services would represent roughly $7.3 million of that figure. Jenny Louie, DPH chief operating officer, said the city would spend the year developing an implementation plan and assessing client impact before any cuts take effect.

DPH also described a $2.7 million proposed reduction tied to the sugary drink distributors tax-funded programs, which…