Health Commission approves Edgewood as youth crisis receiving center after neighborhood concerns

The San Francisco Health Commission voted to designate Edgewood Children's Center as a youth receiving and crisis stabilization facility (Welfare and Institutions Code 5585) after a lengthy public comment period in which neighbors pressed for better notice and stronger safety assurances.

Lisonbee Lehi Bader, a program manager in the Department of Public Health'Behavioral Health Services, said a Mental Health Services Act grant funded a crisis triage system focused on children and families and that San Francisco previously lacked a dedicated children'focused receiving facility. She said the grant includes a warm line, mobile treatment teams and a crisis stabilization unit and that the goal is to reduce transfers to psychiatric emergency services and keep children near family and community supports.

Matt Madaus, president and CEO of Edgewood Center, told commissioners Edgewood has provided child behavioral health services on the Sunset campus for decades, is a training site for UCSF child psychiatry residents, and plans 24/7 clinical staffing and controlled building access for youth in the stabilization unit. "These kids will never leave that particular building until they are stabilized within that day and they leave with their family," Madaus said, describing screening and in'unit supervision procedures and a 10'second door lock to prevent elopement.

Neighbors who spoke at the meeting thanked staff for some outreach but said notice was inadequate. "The program has started already in July without notifying us," said Wendy Wall, who said she lives one block from Edgewood and that notices were taped to doors rather than mailed. Another commenter cited 169 911 calls to the Edgewood site between January and October and warned the program could increase emergency calls.

Edgewood'regional executive David Young responded that staff had tried to place notices where they would not blow away in wet weather and that materials in English and Chinese had been distributed beyond the campus boundary. He said Edgewood has delivered behavioral health services from the site for decades and that the proposed receiving center is not a locked psychiatric hospital; more restrictive placements would be used for children determined to be violent.

Commissioners pressed Edgewood and DPH staff for details about the program'ming, including the age range (6'17), enrollment and reassessment protocols for a 23'hour stay, and cultural competency and translation plans. Staff said every child entering under an involuntary hold would be assigned a treatment team and reassessed hourly to determine whether the child remained appropriate for an unlocked, short'stay setting. Commissioners asked that informational materials be posted online and that Edgewood return within 12 months with research findings and progress on community engagement.

After discussion, a commissioner moved and the commission approved the Edgewood designation by voice vote. The motion was tied to Proposition I public engagement requirements; staff and Edgewood committed to continued neighborhood outreach and translating materials into Chinese. The commission requested a one'year follow'up report on outcomes and community impacts.

The decision means children brought for evaluation could be diverted from psychiatric emergency departments to a local stabilization site, contingent on successful implementation of the security, screening and family'engagement practices described to the commission. The commission did not record a roll call tally in the transcript, indicating approval by voice vote.