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(a) The Homeward Bound Program (“Program”) is hereby established to provide eligible individuals the opportunity to receive travel and relocation support paid by the City to a destination where the individual has a family member, friend, employer, or other individual who is willing to receive and support the Program participant. The Program includes City relocation and reunification programs and allows flexibility for HSA and HSH to design such programs to meet the needs of different communities. HSA shall be the primary agency to oversee coordination and reporting for the Program. HSH, in coordination with HSA, may offer the Program through any of its services and programs, and is responsible for managing referrals and reporting requirements from non-profit community-based organizations. The Executive Director of HSA and the Executive Director of HSH each may adopt such rules and regulations as the Executive Director deems necessary and proper for the administration of the Program for their respective department.
(b) The following individuals shall be eligible to participate in the Program:
(1) Individuals experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.
(2) Individuals who recently experienced homelessness or are experiencing housing instability, such as individuals residing in permanent supportive housing.
(3) Recipients of, or applicants for, any County Adult Assistance Program provided by HSA.
(4) Individuals at risk of homelessness.
(c) The following individuals shall not be eligible to participate in the Program:
(1) Individuals on parole or probation, unless they have received approval from their parole agent or probation officer and the individual is authorized by law to move to a different jurisdiction.
(2) Individuals who are not otherwise qualified as persons with disabilities afforded reasonable modification to policy under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or who are unable to travel alone because they pose a direct risk to themselves or others.
(3) Individuals who are not sober at the time when the individual will begin travel and, to the extent known by HSA or HSH staff or contractors of HSA or HSH, individuals who are unable to abstain from drinking alcohol or using illicit substances while traveling to their destination. HSA or HSH staff or contractors of HSA or HSH may delay travel until the individual is sober or refer individuals with serious alcohol or illicit substance use to a sobering center or medically-supported detoxification before such individuals can participate in the Program.
(4) Individuals who have used the Homeward Bound Program, or any similar relocation and reunification program offered by HSA or HSH, within the previous two years. To prevent an individual at risk of homelessness from becoming homeless, the Executive Director of HSA and the Executive Director of HSH each have the discretion to waive this requirement on a case-by-case basis.
(5) A minor traveling with an adult, unless the adult is the parent or guardian of the minor and the adult has photo identification and birth certificate or other legal verification for the minor proving that the adult is the minor’s parent or guardian.
(Added by Ord. 69-24, File No. 231226, App. 4/4/2024, Eff. 5/5/2024)
Before providing transportation to a destination, the HSA or HSH staff or contractors of HSA or HSH administering the Program must make direct contact with the family member, friend, employer, or other individual who is willing to receive and support the Program participant. HSA or HSH staff or contractors of HSA or HSH shall document the fact that the Program participant has someone at the destination willing to receive and support the Program participant. Within 90 days following the date of a Program participant’s departure, HSA or HSH staff shall attempt to contact the Program participant to determine whether that individual has retained housing.
(Added by Ord. 69-24, File No. 231226, App. 4/4/2024, Eff. 5/5/2024)
(a) By October 1 of each year, HSA shall submit a written report to the Human Services Commission and the Homelessness Oversight Commission containing the information in subsections (b) and (c) for the prior fiscal year.
(b) The written report shall provide the following aggregated and de-identified information:
(1) The number of individuals served by HSA and HSH, respectively, through the Program;
(2) The number of individuals who, at the time of departure: (A) were experiencing homelessness and were unsheltered, (B) were experiencing homelessness and residing in a shelter, (C) were formerly homeless individuals living in permanent supportive housing, or (D) were at risk of homelessness;
(3) The total cost of travel services provided under the Program and the average cost to the City for an individual to utilize the Program;
(4) The number of Program participants who, 90 days following their date of departure, retained housing at their destination;
(5) The number of referrals for substance use disorder treatment or a sobering center to individuals eligible for, and interested in utilizing, the Program, as provided in Section 20.19-2(c)(3); and
(6) the number and circumstances of the use of the waiver authority provided in Section 20.19-2(c)(4).
(c) In addition to the information required in subsection (b), HSH shall require each of the entities with whom it may contract to provide information on referrals to the Program by program type and service provider.
(Added by Ord. 69-24, File No. 231226, App. 4/4/2024, Eff. 5/5/2024)
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Article XIX, or any application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of this Article. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed this Article and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and word not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portion of this Article or application thereof would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(Added by Ord. 69-24, File No. 231226, App. 4/4/2024, Eff. 5/5/2024)
In enacting and implementing this Article XIX, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(Added by Ord. 69-24, File No. 231226, App. 4/4/2024, Eff. 5/5/2024)
Background, Findings, and Purpose. | |
Definitions. | |
The Cash Not Drugs Pilot Program. | |
Cash Not Drugs Implementation Plan. | |
Annual Assessment Report. | |
Promotion of General Welfare. | |
Sunset Provision. |
Editor’s Note:
Article XXI was originally enacted as Article XX by Ord. No. 289-24, but has been redesignated as Article XXI to avoid conflicting with the preexisting Article XX enacted by Ord. No. 257-24. Corresponding revisions have been made within Article XXI to reflect the redesignation.
(a) The Human Services Agency (“HSA”) administers the City’s County Adult Assistance Programs (“CAAP”), consisting of General Assistance, Personal Assisted Employment Services Program, Cash Assistance Linked to Medi-Cal Program, and Supplemental Security Income Pending Program, which together provide financial assistance and social services to eligible indigent adults who have no other source of income or benefits.
(b) The incidence of substance use disorders among San Francisco’s CAAP population is higher than among the general population. According to HSA, from 2018 to 2020, approximately 20% of CAAP recipients self-disclosed in an initial interview with HSA staff that they have substance abuse issues. By comparison, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that, from 2005 to 2010, 10.8% of the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan statistical area had a substance use disorder. Based on publicly available information, the incidence of substance use disorder among CAAP recipients who are experiencing homelessness is concerning. Further, in 2022, the San Francisco Homeless Count and Survey released by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing found that 52% of individuals experiencing homelessness reported their drug or alcohol use as a disabling health condition, representing a 10% increase from 2019. In its Accidental Drug Overdose Reports for 2020 through 2023, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has determined that at least 25% of drug overdose decedents have no fixed address.
(c) Among programs intended to support recovery from substance use disorders, medical literature widely supports contingency management strategies as effective treatments. In contingency management strategies, patients receive tangible incentives to reinforce positive behaviors such as abstinence from addictive substances or behaviors, or adherence to Medication-Assisted Treatment (“MAT”) where patients are prescribed medications, such as buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone, to treat opioid use disorders.
(d) The San Francisco Department of Public Health (“DPH”) currently offers contingency management programs, including programs authorized by the California Department of Health Care Services. DPH’s 2022 Overdose Prevention Plan proposed to increase the number of programs offering contingency management from three to five, and increase the number of people participating in contingency management programs by 25%.
(e) On March 5, 2024, the voters passed Proposition F, which, as of January 1, 2025, will require all adult CAAP recipients to undergo screening for substance abuse when HSA determines that there is reasonable suspicion to believe that an individual is dependent upon illegal drugs. If the screening indicates there is reason to believe the recipient is abusing or dependent on illegal drugs, Proposition F will require that recipient to undergo a professional evaluation for substance abuse to receive further CAAP benefits. If, as a result of the professional evaluation, a provider determines the recipient requires substance abuse treatment, the provider will refer the recipient to a treatment program.
(f) The purpose of the Pilot Program established in this Article XX is to incentivize both drug-free and medically-assisted recovery from substance use disorders for those individuals who, under Proposition F, must undergo substance abuse treatment, and to strengthen drug overdose prevention efforts using contingency management methods.
(Added by Ord. 257-24, File No. 240799, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024)
For purposes of this Article XX, the following terms have the following meanings:
“CAAP” means the County Adult Assistance Programs, set forth in Article VII of Chapter 20 of the Administrative Code.
“City” means the City and County of San Francisco.
“CLIA” means the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 263a, as may be amended from time to time, and including any implementing regulations.
“CND Participant” means a person participating in the Cash Not Drugs Pilot Program and meeting the eligibility criteria in Section 20.20-3.
“DPH” means the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
“Drug Test” means a test that detects the presence of illicit substances without referral to or analysis by a CLIA laboratory, such as but not limited to a rapid, at-home test or testing by a non-CLIA certified forensic laboratory.
“Executive Director” means the Executive Director of HSA or the Executive Director’s designee.
“HSA” means the San Francisco Human Services Agency.
“MAT” means Medication-Assisted Treatment.
“Negative Drug Test” means a Drug Test that is negative for any of the controlled substances listed in California Health and Safety Code Section 11054, as may be amended from time to time, with the exception of the following substances: Cannabis; Psilocybin; Psilocyn; Dimethyltryptamine (DMT); Mescaline; or any controlled substance used in connection with a prescribed MAT program, including, but not limited to, Buprenorphine and Methadone.
“Pilot Program” means the Cash Not Drugs Pilot Program, as set forth in this Article XX.
(Added by Ord. 257-24, File No. 240799, App. 11/14/2024, Eff. 12/15/2024)
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