Mayor Breed, Supervisors unveil 'Mental Health SF' legislation, propose bond and business-tax overhaul

Mayor London Breed and supervisors announced a proposal on Nov. 12 to create “Mental Health SF,” a citywide program intended to expand behavioral-health services for people with serious mental illness and substance-use disorders.

Breed told the Board of Supervisors that the proposal, developed with Supervisors Matt Haney and Hillary Ronan, would “dramatically improve how those who are suffering from mental health and substance use on our streets receive services,” and include expanded treatment beds, navigation centers, a revamped access center and an office of coordinated care. “This initiative is ambitious, it’s thorough, and let’s be clear, it will be expensive,” Breed said.

The administration said the city’s behavioral-health system serves more than 30,000 people, and that roughly 4,000 residents present particularly acute challenges in obtaining services; of that latter group, officials cited an overrepresentation of African American residents. The package announced Nov. 12 would prioritize those in crisis and include provisions aimed at people who refuse or cannot accept services.

To pay for capital improvements such as more treatment beds and expanded facilities, Breed asked the city’s capital-planning committee to prioritize a bond measure for the November 2020 ballot. She also said she had asked the controller to convene work to overhaul the city business tax with an eye to creating a consensus revenue measure for the same ballot and asked supervisors to prioritize Mental Health SF funding should they back a business-tax reform.

Supervisor Ronan, a lead sponsor of the ordinance introduced to the board that day, described Mental Health SF as a potential “first universal mental health and substance use health care system in the country,” and said it would provide a 24/7 mobile clinical response, broader availability of treatment beds and permanent supportive housing options. Ronan said the program would create an “office of coordinated care” to help keep people on a path to recovery once services begin.

The mayor and sponsors made clear the program would include both capital and operating costs.…