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Rules committee moves ordinance to prioritize housing for people leaving residential behavioral‑health programs
Summary
An ordinance to prioritize permanent supportive housing placements for adults discharged from residential behavioral‑health programs moved out of committee with amendments clarifying permanent housing and coordination with DPH; providers and clients urged adoption to break cycles of relapse and street discharge.
The Rules Committee voted to forward to the full Board an ordinance intended to reduce the cycle of people leaving residential behavioral‑health programs and returning to the streets by prioritizing housing assignments for those individuals and coordinating post‑placement services through the Department of Public Health.
Sponsor Supervisor Mark Sheehy described the problem as repeated episodes of treatment followed by street discharge and relapse. He cited data from HSH showing persistent numbers of people who need follow‑up housing and care and read provider testimony noting clients who complete programs but return to homelessness.
HSH and DPH staff said they support the amended ordinance and that discharge planning begins early in treatment, but that housing wait lists and limited step‑down options make stable exits difficult. HealthRight 360, a provider, told the committee that in its residential substance‑use treatment programs a sizable share of clients arrive unsheltered and about 25 percent of program exits went back to homelessness.
Clients who testified described repeated treatment cycles and fear of returning to homelessness after completing programs. "Every time we go through the program and end up in homelessness, it's a cycle that's that I've been seeing," one client said, urging supervisors to prioritize housing placements.
Committee amendments clarified that the ordinance applies to permanent supportive housing (not temporary shelters), that it is implemented within the coordinated entry system HSH operates, and that DPH should ensure that clinical and support services accompany housing placements without interruption. The committee passed the ordinance out to the full Board with a positive recommendation.
