SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office released a new report Monday on the recently opened mobile triage unit in the city’s SoMa neighborhood.
The unit is a place where people who are homeless or experiencing substance abuse can go to be connected with shelter or drug addiction services.
Since opening in early February, the unit has served over 12,000 people.
The report attributing some of the unit’s successes to being run by the police department, saying:
“Close collaboration between law enforcement, social services and health services provided the right mix of ‘carrots and sticks’ to bring people off the sidewalks.”
The new report also spelled out some parts that aren’t working though. Things like the unit’s role in pushing people on the streets from SoMa to other neighborhoods.
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A plan to give unhoused people bus tickets back to their families only helped about four people.
And despite demand, some shelter beds sat empty, with the report writing:
“Our current system is at capacity and the types of shelter and treatment beds we have don’t always meet the needs of the people we are trying to help.”
South of Market Business Association president Henry Karnilowicz thinks the unit has made a difference in the neighborhood.
“It’s much cleaner now. You don’t have all the people hanging out there all the time. That has been a big change,” Karnilowicz said.
Karnilowicz says for years now, doing business in SoMa has been very difficult, with rampant homelessness and drug use only seeming to ever get worse.
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He says several businesses in the area have simply shut down as a result.
“There was a Jewish bakery I guess you could say… well, they closed. Because they just weren’t getting people coming in,” Karnilowicz said.
Karnilowicz says he wants to see the triage unit continue to operate.
But, he’s also urging city leaders to do more to address his neighborhood’s issues.
“If you’re going to make a difference you can’t just walk up and down and say great, we’ve got a few people and things are going to happen,” he said.
In its first 30 days, the triage unit placed 275 people into shelter or housing and directed more than 1,000 to medical or behavioral health treatment.
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