(a) The City authorizes the implementation of Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 5450) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code through the establishment of the Housing Conservatorship Program, as provided in this Division IV.
(b) The purpose of the Housing Conservatorship Program is to provide the least restrictive and most clinically appropriate alternative needed for the protection of a person who is incapable of caring for the person’s own health and well-being due to a serious mental illness and substance use disorder, as evidenced by frequent detention for evaluation and treatment pursuant to Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code (“Section 5150”). If the court determines that the person needs to be moved from the person’s current residence, the placement shall be in supportive community housing that provides wraparound services, such as onsite physical and behavioral health services, unless the court, with good cause, determines that such a placement is not sufficient for the protection of that person.
(c) The procedures for establishing, administering, and terminating a conservatorship under this Division IV shall be as set forth in Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 5 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.
(d) The San Francisco Public Conservator is designated to provide conservatorship investigations as set forth in this Division IV, and those investigations shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 5 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.
(e) The San Francisco Public Conservator may appoint a conservator of the person for a San Francisco resident who is incapable of caring for the person’s own health and well-being due to a serious mental illness and substance use disorder, as evidenced by frequent detention for evaluation and treatment pursuant to Section 5150.
(f) A Housing Conservatorship pursuant to this Division IV shall not be established if a conservatorship or guardianship for the person exists under Division 4 (commencing with Section 1400) of the California Probate Code or under Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5350) of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.
(g) The following professionals may recommend an evaluation for Housing Conservatorship to the Public Conservator or the Care Team upon a determination that a person in the professional’s care is incapable of caring for the person’s own health and well-being due to a serious mental illness and substance use disorder, as evidenced by frequent detention for evaluation and treatment pursuant to Section 5150:
(1) The Sheriff, or the Sheriff’s designee;
(2) The Director of the Department of Public Health, or the Director’s designee;
(3) The Director of the Human Services Agency, or the Director’s designee; or
(4) The professional person in charge of an agency providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment.
(h) Before the Public Conservator conducts an evaluation of eligibility for a Housing Conservatorship, the Care Team shall work with the individual who has been recommended for evaluation to maximize engagement in voluntary treatment, as set forth in Section 4134, as a preferred alternative to a Housing Conservatorship, and the City shall make a documented offer of intensive case management, mental health services, substance use treatment, placement in a clinically appropriate treatment program, and upon discharge from such program, placement in permanent housing that is clinically appropriate for the individual, as determined upon placement.
(i) If the Public Conservator, upon conducting an evaluation for Housing Conservatorship, finds that the person meets the criteria for Housing Conservatorship, that the City has made a documented offer of intensive case management, mental health services, substance use treatment, placement in a clinically appropriate treatment program, and upon discharge from such program, placement in permanent housing that is clinically appropriate for the individual, as determined upon placement, and that the Housing Conservatorship is the least restrictive alternative, the officer shall petition the Superior Court of San Francisco to establish a Housing Conservatorship.
(Added by Ord. 108-19, File No. 181042, App. 6/21/2019, Eff. 7/22/2019)