Sooner or later, even the most dedicated progressives must admit that reality is an actual thing. And once companies start offering doom tours of the squalor in your city, that time has probably arrived. This week, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced an initiative calling for drug testing and treatment for people who use narcotics and want to access the County Adult Assistance Programs (CAAP).
We will continue to support those struggling with addiction who want help. People who refuse to enroll in our treatment services offered will no longer receive county-funded cash assistance. We're a City of compassion, but we also must have accountability.https://t.co/98SWGkR4Dj
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) September 27, 2023
The city issued a press release stating that those who are either currently receiving funds or who want to enroll in the program will undergo a screening and enroll in a treatment program provided by the San Francisco Human Services Agency. These programs may include medically assisted treatments, detox, outpatient programs, and abstinence-based approaches. People who refuse to participate or do not complete their treatment will be denied enrollment or will be removed from the CAAP. Breed said that San Francisco is “a city of compassion, but also a city that demands accountability.”
Supervisor Catherine Stefani was a bit more direct, stating, “In our pursuit to address the opioid crisis, let our message be clear: the City isn’t going to give you money to buy drugs. If you are ready for help, we are ready to help you. I believe that requiring individuals with addiction issues to be in a treatment program to receive county monetary assistance is not just a policy but a compassionate pathway towards recovery and stability.” Supervisor Raphael Mandelman noted that San Francisco has become known as the city where drug users went to die.
In August of this year, KRON 4 reported that the Coalition on Homelessness presented the city with a list of demands to settle a lawsuit. That suit was filed by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, ACLU NorCal, and Latham & Watkins LLP on behalf of the coalition. The demands included filling vacant supportive housing units, increasing the availability of temporary shelter, a plan to resolve the encampment issue, and better trash disposal and sidewalk cleaning. That report came on the heels of another story that said half of the city’s homeless population refused to stay in shelters. In that story, Breed was quoted as saying, “We can’t force people to accept or stay in shelter, and we’re unable to prevent people from setting up an encampment in area that was just cleaned. This is the situation we are in.” Another quote from Breed read, “Every day our outreach teams go out to help people. But what they can do is limited, and the pressure they are under is immense. They cannot monitor these sites 24/7 for illegal behavior. I want people to understand the challenges our outreach workers are facing every day. They are being filmed. They are being targeted just for doing their jobs. Even under these conditions, they are helping people into shelter.”
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Breed’s new proposal is a step in the right direction, but it comes at a time when the city is already awash in homeless encampments and has watched businesses and residents flee the area. And so two questions remain: Is the proposal too little, too late; and is it even feasible?
The city may demand that drug testing and treatment become conditions for CAAP benefits, and the effort may get off to a roaring start. But what happens when the same people who refuse to stay in shelters refuse testing and treatment? And what happens if another lawsuit is filed in their behalf? Will the city eventually cave and restore the CAAP benefits? Breed, the city supervisors and even the residents who have remained in San Francisco and the surrounding areas can clearly see the problem, and kudos to them for taking a step in the right direction. Their other problem will be selling it to the denizens of Progressive, Inc., many of whom are driven by high-minded ideals and possibly greed and ambition. And that will be a very tough sell.
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