By Erica Sandberg : city-journal – excerpt
The Way Out, a new nonprofit program for drug addicts, is challenging the city’s culture of permissiveness.
Misdiagnose a disease, and the results can be lethal. Case in point: San Francisco officials call the city’s drug-addiction crisis a homeless problem. Until recently, the city’s remedy has been to provide addicts with indoor spaces and drug-use gear—a strategy that has proven increasingly deadly. As of mid-December, San Francisco had 752 fatal overdoses in 2023, the highest number on record…
Two flawed schools of thought are to blame for these record numbers. San Francisco embraced California’s Housing First model, which gives the so-called homeless population unconditional, permanent housing. Meantime, the city’s Department of Public Health has leaned hard into a Harm Reduction policy rather than actively promoting recovery. Loath to stigmatize drug users, city officials are focused on developing campaigns designed to encourage safe drug use and to distribute drug supply paraphernalia, including foil for inhaling illegal fentanyl…
Now, disruption has begun. The Way Out, an on-demand, recovery-focused homeless initiative of the Salvation Army in San Francisco, is vigorously challenging the city’s entrenched approach to addiction. The Way Out coordinates the Salvation Army’s local efforts into a complete recovery system. What it offers people in need is impressive, both in the scope of services and in its intention.
First, participants receive stabilization services and drug-addiction treatment at the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center. Immediate intake is available six days a week, with plans to expand to seven days soon. Recovery begins on arrival, including detox and six months of residential care with an evidence-based curriculum…(more)