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Mayor Lurie Launches Integrated Neighborhood Street Teams on Coordinated Response to Street Conditions as Part of the "Breaking the Cycle" Directive
03/25/2025
[ Article originally appeared in www.sf.gov ]
Mayor Daniel Lurie launched a new street team response model, a key part of his strategy to get people into treatment, ensure safe and clean public spaces, and responsibly manage taxpayer resources. The new model coordinates seven key departments to deliver one unified street outreach team model focused on geographic neighborhoods to ensure individuals facing high-acuity behavioral health challenges or chronic homelessness get on path toward long-term stability. “Every San Franciscan has walked by someone suffering on the street and wished they could do something about it,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie. “This new, integrated, neighborhood-based street team model will help us get more people off the street and on a path to stability. I’m grateful to our city departments and the front-line workers who’ve helped shape this change and who work tirelessly every day and night to help our most vulnerable.” This announcement comes after the Mayor signed the “Breaking the Cycle” Executive Directive last week, outlining a framework to fundamentally transform the city’s response to the homelessness and behavioral health crisis with more coordinated services, better measurement of outcomes, and accountability for government and providers to deliver those outcomes. As part of the directive, the Mayor announced last Friday his plan to open 1500 more interim housing beds, with early 700 beds already in implementation planning. Enabled by Mayor Lurie’s Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance, the new surge in interim housing beds will allow this new Neighborhood Street Team to successfully get people off the street and into stability. The new street teams model creates increased accountability for the homelessness and behavioral health response by combining teams from across seven departments—including: Police, Fire, Sheriff, Public Works, Public Health, Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and Emergency Management—into a single, team that focuses on specific geographic areas to ensure the City is strategically managing resources, ordinating operations, and responding swiftly to conditions on the street. Previously there were nine service-oriented street outreach teams, alongside SFPD and SFDPW managed street responses, including 3-1-1 calls for service. The new model aims to respond swiftly to emerging issues while working to identify and prevent larger-scale displacement and public safety concerns. Using the learnings from the first 30 days of the Mobile Triage Pilot this new initiative will continue the rhythm of interdepartmental street engagement and data tracking. The new model was created in partnership with the highly skilled front-line workers who work tirelessly every day to get people into the care they need. Key reforms include:
The neighborhood-based operations will address encampments and unsafe behavior with urgency across San Francisco, in compliance with all applicable legal requirements, while the Citywide Team will deploy resources to high-need areas, preventing displacement and public safety issues before they escalate. Operational leads under the strategic leadership of the Mayor’s Office, DEM, and SFPD will lead implementation of this new unified model, coordinating law enforcement, and services across multiple partner agencies. “The Department of Emergency Management is uniquely positioned to coordinate across agencies using our expertise in the Incident Command System, as we did during the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple large events, including APEC and the NBA All-Star Game,” said Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll. “Under this new model, we look forward to closer collaboration with partner agencies and neighborhood stakeholders.” “Our top priority is keeping our streets safe and clean, and the strategic street response will be a tremendous help in this effort,” said SFPD Chief Bill Scott. “We welcome this deeper partnership as our hard-working officers continue enforcing the law and responding to calls for service. I want to thank Mayor Daniel Lurie for his vision, which will assist our officers and help connect people with services they desperately need.” “The San Francisco Fire Department’s Street Crisis Response Team will continue to respond to 911 calls for individuals in acute behavioral distress and perform well checks for vulnerable individuals,” said SFFD Chief Dean Crispen. “SFFD supports the mission of the neighborhood-based street teams by supplying a community paramedicine trained incident commander to coordinate the daily street response. We appreciate the leadership of Mayor Daniel Lurie and we look forward to working in collaboration with our City partners to address the challenges facing San Francisco.” “This commonsense restructuring of our street teams across City departments will significantly improve our ability to help people on the street get into effective treatment and sustained recovery,” said Director of Health Dan Tsai. “By working together as one team in each neighborhood, we can be more effective and coordinated in resolving unique neighborhood issues, improving conditions of the streets, and better helping individuals in greatest need of support get plugged into treatment and care.” “This new, neighborhood-based model builds on the momentum to improve street conditions in San Francisco through a strategic response,” said San Francisco Public Works Director Carla Short. “It takes all of us, from outreach workers, street inspectors and medical providers to police officers and street cleaners, to remain hyper-focused as a united team to achieve our shared goals.” “Mayor Lurie’s initiative to launch integrated neighborhood street teams multiplies the combined efforts of city agencies into many neighborhoods and ensures those in crisis receive timely, compassionate support,” said Sheriff Paul Miyamoto. “Getting help and access to services on the streets is better than getting that same help and access to services in jail." “Getting people off the streets and into treatment is one of the most important things we can do to improve public safety and help people in crisis,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “Mayor Lurie’s ‘Breaking the Cycle’ directive and the launch of integrated neighborhood street teams reflect a thoughtful, coordinated approach — one that brings city departments together to deliver real help where it’s needed most. It’s a smart and compassionate step forward for our city.” "The westside is in dire need of new resources to address the quality-of-life issues of our neighborhoods,” said District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar. “The restructuring of our street teams is long overdue, and I look forward to working with Mayor Lurie to ensure the potential of these teams becomes a reality." "San Francisco is crying out for new, more effective approaches to our homelessness crisis. This overhaul of our street teams will mean coordinated care and resources reach those on our streets faster,” said District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter. “I'm optimistic that this change will greatly improve our outreach and outcomes for those experiencing homelessness.” “Integrating our city departments and following evidence-based models will better serve those struggling with mental health and homelessness in our streets through compassionate, individualized care,” said District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who represents the Tenderloin. “I commend Mayor Lurie for prioritizing solutions to improve quality of life for all residents.”
"If there's one thing I've known to be true in my 15 years of work in street safety in the Tenderloin, it's that consistency and coordination is key," said Kate Robinson, Executive Director, Tenderloin Community Benefit District. “It's very encouraging to see the City lean into what has been clearly working to make the Tenderloin a safer place to live, work, and frequent our amazing small businesses." Back To News |
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