S.F. is forcing more mentally ill people into treatment — but are they actually getting help?

“Our goal is to be as aggressive as possible in getting people off the street,” Cretan wrote. “We are seeing the benefits, but also tackling challenges that all counties will face as they join San Francisco in implementing SB 43.” He pointed to a 29% increase in temporary conservatorships granted this year compared with the same period last year. The law’s expansion to apply to more people with severe substance use disorder has helped steer more people into residential treatment programs, he said. The number of people seeking residential treatment has increased 30% in the last year, he said.

Those numbers just mean that you’ve been aggressive, not effective.

Breed told the Chronicle in April the rollout of SB43 was going well. “We definitely did what we needed to do in order to prepare, and we'll continue to do as much as we can to get as many people the help and support they need,” she said.

Only … no you didn’t? If people are not getting help, and your spokesperson can cite no stats that show meaningful success, your preparation was either inadequate or for the wrong goal.

Breed rejected the idea that San Francisco does not have the resources to expand its conservatorship system. She said more money to build housing and treatment facilities for conservatees will become available under the state’s new mental health bond. "But in the meantime, we have the resources for the people that we are trying to help," she said.

So, it’s not so much that you have the resources today, as you might in the future.

Conservators said the people newly referred under SB43 are particularly challenging to manage because they typically have severe substance use disorder and are often homeless. There aren’t locked facilities to treat people with substance abuse disorders, however, so even if someone is conserved, there’s no place for them to go for treatment where conservators can ensure they stay.

That seems like an obvious thing to prepare for, no?

The state did not give cities and counties additional money to implement the new law, in contrast with the way it has approached Newsom’s signature mental health program, CARE Court. San Francisco received $4 million from the state to implement CARE Court, which aims to encourage people into treatment but can’t force them into care.

For an initiative that clearly required less planning and money, the state gave SF about what the city spends on maintaining a parking lot for a year. But Breed says not to worry about the $0 the state gave for conservatorship.