Hepatitis B is widely misunderstood, a problem worsened by insufficient screening and detection. Chronic hepatitis B isn’t as consistently detected as are acute cases, allowing the disease to frequently progress unchecked and do more damage. According to the World Health Organization, only 13% of those living with the virus know they have it, leaving many, especially in immigrant and marginalized communities, undiagnosed and without access to timely treatment.
Category: Social Services
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Government & Politics, Health, Social Services
Veterans Say VA Staffing Cuts Are Worsening Their Lives
As the Trump administration cuts tens of thousands of federal jobs under the guise of “efficiency,” veterans say the sweeping layoffs and surreptitious push toward privatization are worsening their lives and eroding essential Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare and support programs.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Homelessness, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Social Services
Visible Progress or Political Theater? Factions Disagree on How to Clean Up Street Conditions
In February, the San Francisco Police Department converted a Sixth Street parking lot in South of Market to what it called a triage center — a fenced-off area where police could connect people to social services or put them in a van bound for jail.
According to a city staff report, in the first month of the triage center’s operation, police made 350 arrests, three-quarters of them drug related. Triage personnel connected 275 people to shelter and 408 people to health care.
Advocates for people struggling with homelessness or substance use disorder say the city’s approach is unnecessarily punitive, but some business owners and community members say they approve of what the mayor and Police Department are doing.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Social Services
Federal Grant Freeze Order Sows Confusion for SF Food, Health Programs
The grant freeze order was slated to take effect Tuesday, but that same day a federal judge delayed the effective date of part of the order to Feb. 3. In the meantime, local and state agencies are scrambling to figure out what programs will be affected.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Health, Overdose Crisis, Social Services
Overdose Prevention Centers — Nonstarter in SF, Despite Success in NYC
San Francisco officials appear to have abandoned efforts to open facilities where people can consume drugs under supervision — even as more cities adopt the model to prevent deadly overdoses.
Recent studies show that overdose prevention centers save lives, keep people from consuming drugs in public and do not lead to increased crime.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Social Services
SF Lawmaker Pitches Pay Cuts for Top Officials to Ease Budget Woes
In an effort to help fill budget gaps and bolster some essential city services, one San Francisco lawmaker is proposing pay cuts at the highest levels of government.
City Hall has faced increasing budget shortfalls since the COVID-19 pandemic, which hobbled the downtown office real estate market, disrupting a major source of tax revenue. Mayor London Breed’s latest proposal to close the budget deficit, projected at $790 million over the next two fiscal years, has met objection from some officials and local social service providers.
Posted inHealth, Homelessness, Social Services
You Report an Unhoused Person in a Mental Health Crisis. This Is What Happens Next
In San Francisco, it is not uncommon to cross paths with a person experiencing homelessness in the throes of a mental health crisis. The scene can be tragic, confusing and sometimes might feel dangerous.
Bystanders might wonder how to summon help from the city — and what will happen if they do.
We created a flow chart to answer those questions. We show how cases traverse a tangle of pathways, through handoffs between dispatchers and myriad public workers. The person in crisis might spend days or weeks tumbling through the criminal justice system or health care facilities. Often, they return to where they started: the streets.
Posted inCalifornia, Health, Homelessness, Social Services
The Often Vicious Cycle Through SF’s Strained Mental Health Care and Detention System
Thousands of people last year fell into San Francisco’s complex, reactive, strained system for treating severe mental health and drug-related crises.
To explain how that system works and its effects on the people who enter it, we begin with the story of one man, Jay. As with many others — including those who are unhoused or are detained without their consent following a call from an alarmed observer — Jay had received temporary care, entailing multiple involuntary psychiatric holds, that failed to address his long-term problems. That left him back on the streets to fend for himself or, with the help of passersby, try again to get the aid he needed.
Posted inHealth, Law & Justice, Overdose Crisis, Public Safety, Social Services
Proveedores de Servicios Exigen Acceso a Reclusos Latinos
La falta de programación en español es un problema crecientemente grave ya que el encarcelamiento de latinos ha aumentado desde el lanzamiento el junio pasado de una ofensiva policial contra las drogas en los vecindarios de Tenderloin y sur de Market. • Read in English: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/service-providers-demand-access-to-latinx-jail-inmates
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Elections, Government & Politics, Health, Law & Justice, Overdose Crisis, Social Services
Drug Policy, Addictions Specialists Oppose Prop F Tying Welfare to Drug Tests
Numerous drug policy experts and addictions specialists from across the country — as close as UCSF and as far away as Rhode Island — publicly oppose a San Francisco ballot measure that would compel adult welfare recipients to undergo drug screening before collecting cash benefits.
And efforts to publicize the measure have brought practitioners who don’t always agree about addiction treatment practices to the same side of the debate.