Who could now reply to SF 911 calls about homelessness

When a San Francisco business owner calls the city about a homeless person in a tent blocking the sidewalk in front of a door, the call doesn’t go to the police first.

Instead, a dispatcher may send a new team of community service workers to speak with the person and attempt to resolve the situation, including liaison with city programs and, in limited cases, promotion to services.

The new Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team (HEART) is responding to half a dozen types of non-medical, non-emergency 911 and 311 calls for people experiencing homelessness and experiencing crime, violence, threats, or mental crises play no role. The goal is to get people the help they need and keep armed police away from these operations so they have more time to respond to serious crimes.

The four teams, each consisting of four employees and a supervisor, are on duty seven days a week, on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. In the two days since teams took to the streets, they have responded to more than 70 rerouted calls, including directing someone to the Motor Vehicle Authority for identification and directing people who needed a higher level of care , to another street team that responded to people in mental health crises.

They aim to answer 100 calls weekly, which the city says is just a fraction of eligible calls. If teams are unable to respond, a dispatcher will send the most appropriate alternative, in certain cases it could still be the police, city officials said.

“Tackling homelessness isn’t just about creating new shelter or housing – it’s also about meeting people where they are to connect them to those resources,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement.

The $3 million-a-year pilot program is being run by the nonprofit Urban Alchemy, which employs mostly people getting out of prison. The organization has been running a similar program in Los Angeles for two years, which has responded to thousands of calls. Critics of other nonprofits have expressed concerns that Urban Alchemy is not the right choice to run the program.

The San Francisco program will be led by two existing Urban Alchemy leaders, including the LA program leader and recently hired Ross Mirkarimi

The former supervisor and San Francisco sheriff was suspended by then-Mayor Ed Lee in 2012 after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor in which he grabbed and injured his wife’s arm during a heated argument, but the board voted to reinstate him. He lost re-election in 2015.

He and his wife, Eliana Lopez, told The Chronicle that it was an isolated case. Urban Alchemy said Mirkarimi helped the organization as a consultant on their LA program.

San Francisco’s pilot program brings together half a dozen teams responding to the city’s social problems — people living on the streets, experiencing mental health crises, or simply overdosing — that were previously treated by the police. Breed has poured millions of dollars into police alternatives while fighting to staff the police force and improve the image that the city is unclean and unsafe. Their existing teams have had some positive results but haven’t changed the roads.

Teams can’t force people on the street to move unless they offer shelter — a key point in a lawsuit filed against the city by attorneys and the homeless.

City and Urban Alchemy officials did not directly address what HEART would do if someone did not use services and whether the person would be asked to relocate. City officials say there must be enough sidewalk space for someone with a disability to pass.

“Urban Alchemy has helped connect thousands of people to services, shelter and housing, and we work tirelessly to provide and work to get people the help and support they need,” said Kirkpatrick Tyler , head of community and government affairs, in a statement.

Breed’s pilot program starts against a controversial background: some community organizations are protesting against it and Urban Alchemy is the provider.

Many local residents, business owners and officials have welcomed and praised Urban Alchemy, particularly Breed, but homeless people have complained about the organization. Urban Alchemy operates homeless shelters and its community ambassadors reverse drug overdoses, pick up trash and tell people not to use drugs on the streets, or block sidewalks with tents.

In LA, the group runs the CIRCLE program — for Crisis and Incident Response through Community-Led Engagement — which responds to emergency calls related to homelessness. In March, the team responded to more than 1,300 police calls and around 2,570 self-initiated incidents. The team distributed dozens of groceries and clothing items, conducted two dozen mental health interventions and referred a dozen for treatment, shelter or shelter.

San Francisco critics include the nonprofit Dolores Street Community Services, which has run for leadership of HEART along with two other groups. An independent panel reviewed the bids, gave Urban Alchemy a better rating and awarded the contract.

Dolores Street Community Services officials filed a protest letter arguing, “While Urban Alchemy has a strong track record of keeping streets clean, it has failed to create safe public spaces and homeless people in a humane and dignified manner.” wise to treat.” They pointed to concerns, including a media report that a worker allegedly sexually abused a woman at a hotel used as a pandemic shelter.

Urban Alchemy officials previously told The Chronicle that they fire anyone who engages in violence, discrimination and disrespect for women. CEO, Lena Miller, has argued that “our agenda is humane treatment of people.”

The city dismissed the protest as unfounded.

Del Seymour, founder of the nonprofit Code Tenderloin, which initially wanted to help run the program, now supports Urban Alchemy but said the city needs to allocate adequate resources to offer something to the people.

“We cannot go out and intervene with people if there are no alternatives,” he said.

The new program stemmed from a proposal, originally called the Compassionate Alternative Response Team, that community organizations launched two years ago and were pressured by leaders for funding. Breed didn’t support that suggestion because she didn’t want out-of-town staff responding to emergency calls, saying it would replicate the efforts of her existing street response teams.

Sara Shortt, political director of the nonprofit HomeRise, feared the same city agency being sued over homeless evictions would oversee the program. She said it’s very likely that the people the program is designed to serve don’t have a lot of trust in it and would therefore get poorer results.

HEART is led by Urban Alchemy Education Director Louie Hammonds. project manager Katherine Napoleon, who helped launch the similar program in LA; and Mirkarimi.

Shortt said she was “confused about this hiring decision as there is no indication that he has any experience working with homeless issues.” However, she said Mirkarimi has demonstrated a track record as a listener and community collaborator, championing justice and services have.

Urban Alchemy said that as a supervisor, Mirkarimi helped raise money for a street outreach team and fought against the criminalization of poverty. Tyler said, “Our leadership team, which runs HEART, has helped thousands of homeless people get the support they need through a similar program in Los Angeles.”

Reach Mallory Moench: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com