by David Sjostedt : sfstandard – excerpt
A new program slated to open in September will provide housing for criminal defendants awaiting trial in San Francisco with the goal of steering them towards sobriety and a path to a job.
The 564 6th Street SoMa facility will offer temporary lodging, along with mental health and job support, to people released from San Francisco jails. Run by Adult Probation, Episcopal Community Services and the Pretrial Diversion Project, the state-funded program will provide up to 30 beds for an initial trial period of one year.
The $483,701 pilot aims to fill a gap for the roughly one-third of people released from jails who are homeless, according to Adult Probation. It’s an evolution of a Covid-era effort that used hotel rooms as temporary shelter for people released from jail during the peak of the pandemic.
“We’ll knock on a tent with a cup of coffee and a doughnut and get them ready for court,” said David Mauroff, CEO of the Pretrial Diversion Project. “Detention is not a solution to our housing problem, our mental health problem and our substance abuse problem. The answer lies in partnerships like this.”…(more)
Does this give more homeless people a reason to misbehave so they will go t the head of the housing list? Is this a solution or an excuse to try a new tactic and who does it prioritize the right people for housing? It is hard to know what is going on as City lunges from one “new idea” to the next. It feels like they are throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Do they reward anyone who comes up with an tried program?