Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Government & Politics, Health, LGBTQ+

Federal Pressure on Transgender Care Reaches San Francisco Clinics

A sweeping federal campaign to curb gender-affirming care for minors is testing the limits of Washington’s authority over medicine and placing San Francisco clinics at the center of a national legal battle, leaving transgender adolescents uncertain about whether their treatment will continue. Federal policy debates about transgender health care are already affecting the San Francisco […]

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.

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