San Francisco's Behavior Health Center is a model of what enhanced board and care for people with severe mental health conditions should be. Run by the City and County of San Francisco, its residents are mostly people who have struggled in private board and care facilities due to their complex health needs, insurance or immigration status, or behavioral concerns. At the BHC, they have stabilized and formed a community with other residents and the staff, many of whom have worked at the BHC for a long time and are highly skilled and experienced.
Now, the SF Department of Public ...
San Francisco's Behavior Health Center is a model of what enhanced board and care for people with severe mental health conditions should be. Run by the City and County of San Francisco, its residents are mostly people who have struggled in private board and care facilities due to their complex health needs, insurance or immigration status, or behavioral concerns. At the BHC, they have stabilized and formed a community with other residents and the staff, many of whom have worked at the BHC for a long time and are highly skilled and experienced.
Now, the SF Department of Public Health is trying to displace the BHC's 82 residents in order to turn the center into a locked facility as part of Mayor Lurie's campaign promise to open 1500 new beds. The change would disrupt a community, risk decompensation for the residents — and the City currently cannot even tell residents where they would go. Private board and cares typically cannot meet the needs of these residents. Further, displacing one group of vulnerable people to house another group does nothing to increase the net number of treatment beds available.