Health Department and SFPD report HSOC has logged thousands of street engagements and diverted hundreds into services

The Health Commission received an update on the Healthy Streets Operations Center (HSOC), a multi-agency effort based at the Emergency Operations Center (1011 Turk) to coordinate responses to unsheltered homelessness and street behaviors.

Navina Bhabha, Deputy Director of Health, said HSOC "was created to really, unify, and help us coordinate, plan, and direct the response to people who are experiencing homelessness on our streets," and described four lead agencies (DPH, Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, DEM and SFPD) and nearly a dozen partner units that participate on any given day.

Diana Oliva Arroche (DPH), who described HSOC’s goals under the acronym DIME, said the operation focuses on delivering coordinated services, improving medical and behavioral health on the street, meeting shelter and referral needs, and ensuring safe, clean streets while responding to resident concerns. She said HSOC uses a coordinated 311 intake and dispatch system, daily planning meetings, and a shared incident-command approach.

Diana reported operational results and targets: roughly 50 HDIP (Healthy Streets Intervention Program) operations with almost 1,000 contacts from those operations, about 281 medical engagements through health fairs in 2018 (including HCV and HIV testing), approximately 205 people diverted through the Community Assessment and Service Center into services, and a tally of about 7,904 engagements to date across outreach efforts. HSOC staff highlighted partnerships with SF AIDS Foundation for syringe cleanup and noted ongoing work to improve warm handoffs to shelters, peer navigators and navigation beds.

SFPD Commander David Lazar described the model as "the collaboration just so so good in our city," and emphasized the department’s role in law-enforcement-assisted diversion. Commissioners pressed staff for clearer outcome data — how many people remain placed long-term versus brief placements, how many cannot be housed because of capacity limits, and a breakdown of where outreach contacts occur. DPH said it is working with the Controller’s Office and HSH to produce more robust metrics, and noted recent technical changes: HOT team triage integration into HSOC and new CASC-based clinical teams.

HSOC hours currently run 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week; staff said they are testing expanded after-hours outreach and increasing case-management capacity, Hospitality House drop-in hours, and mobile harm-reduction outreach in Bayview. Commissioners and public commenters urged a services-first approach and cautioned against language that could re-criminalize street behaviors.

What happens next: DPH will work with Controller and HSH to provide the Commission with additional metrics on placement attempts, waiting lists, and longer-term outcomes; staff will return with revised goals and values and an evaluation of after-hours pilot work.