Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee Hearing on Behavioral Health Services Act Update – March 26, 2026
Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee Hearing on Behavioral Health Services Act Update – March 26, 2026
On Thursday, March 26, 2026, the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, chaired by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and joined by Vice Chair Balal Machmood and Supervisor Alan Wong, convened to hear an update on the Fiscal Year 2025–2026 Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) annual update, formerly the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). The committee received a presentation from Jessica Brown, Director of the Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Behavioral Health Services Act lead for the Department of Public Health, who outlined program outcomes, funding transitions under Proposition One, and next steps for the county’s integrated plan.
Discussion Items
-
Presentation on the BHSA Annual Update: Jessica Brown, joined initially by Deputy Director Danielle Marshall, presented the FY 2025–2026 annual update. Key points included:
- San Francisco historically received about $30 million per year from MHSA, which has grown to $72 million in the current spending plan.
- The city supports 95 programs and services, including full-service partnerships (FSP), peer support, vocational services, and housing.
- Under Proposition One (passed March 2024), MHSA is transitioning to the BHSA, with three new funding categories: 35% to full-service partnerships, 30% to housing, and 35% to behavioral health services and support (including workforce, innovation, prevention, and capital facilities).
- The new law expands eligibility to include substance use disorders and requires targeting vulnerable populations: children/youth, chronically homeless, and veterans.
- The county is required to engage 26 stakeholder groups; 12 community planning meetings have already been held.
- An integrated plan covering all behavioral health services must be submitted to the state by April 2026, with a 30-day public comment period, final approval by June 30, 2026, and implementation by July 1, 2027.
- Failure to submit a timely plan could impact future funding.
-
Chair Supervisor Dorsey’s Questions and Comments:
- He asked about flexibility to address non-substance addictive disorders (e.g., social media addiction) under the new framework. Brown noted that innovation funding under BHSS allows pilot programs for emerging issues, and 50% of funding must go to early intervention for populations under 25.
- He requested further explanation of full-service partnerships, which Brown described as intensive case management with 24/7 access, wraparound services (housing, employment, peer support), and holistic care.
- He expressed interest in vocational assistance for people in recovery and asked how the city engages recovery community organizations (e.g., the Dry Dock, Castro Country Club) that are not city-funded. Brown explained that the city’s outreach includes translated materials, partnerships with CBOs, and now expanded state-mandated stakeholder engagement (including labor unions and law enforcement).
Key Outcomes
- Motion and Vote: Chair Dorsey moved to forward the item (resolution authorizing adoption of the BHSA annual update) to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation. The motion passed unanimously with all three committee members (Dorsey, Machmood, Wong) voting aye.
- Next Steps: The Department of Public Health will submit the integrated plan to the state in April 2026, post it for a 30-day public comment period, and return to the Board of Supervisors in May 2026 for final approval. The plan is required to be submitted by June 30, 2026, and will take effect July 1, 2027.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. This meeting will come to order. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for Thursday, March twenty-sixth, twenty twenty-six. I am Supervisor Matt Dorsey, Chair of this committee, and I'm joined today by fellow committee members, Vice Chair Balal Machmood, and Supervisor Alan Wong. As always, we're grateful today to our clerk, Ms. Monique Um Creighton, whom we thank for staffing us and keeping us on track as well. We are appreciative to the entire team at SFGov TV for facilitating and broadcasting today's meeting, and that is especially true for our producer today, Ms. Kalina Mendoza. Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes, please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices. Documents to be included as part of the file should be submitted to the clerk. Public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. When your item of interest comes up in public comment is called, please line up to speak on your right. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors' agenda of April seventh, twenty twenty-six unless otherwise stated. Yes, Mr. Chair. Item number one is a resolution authorizing adoption of the San Francisco Behavioral Health Services Act. Annual update for fiscal year 252. Um twenty twenty-five, twenty twenty-six behavioral and mental health services act annual update. So I'm really um excited to hear about that. I think this is something that people may recall that voters enacted uh back in March with Proposition One. So there's some interesting things that I'm really looking forward to hearing up about. Um, I'd like to welcome Jessica Brown, who is the director of the Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and Behavioral And Heads Up the Uh, Behavioral Health Services Act work. Um, thank you, Ms. Brown. The floor is yours. I just I just wanted to say I'm not Jessica Brown. I'm Danielle Marshall. I'm the deputy director. Jessica is actually coming up on the elevator right now, so she will be here momentarily if we can have just a moment of patience with with you all. Uh, sure. Madam Clerk, should we just take a recess for 10 minutes? Okay. Okay, thank you so much. Okay. No problem. Yes, let's recess. Okay. Thanks. We are in recession. San Francisco government television. Okay, we are back from recess, and um, as I was saying, we are going to hear a presentation from the Department of Public Health on the fiscal year twenty twenty-five, twenty-six Behavioral and Mental Health Services Act annual update. This includes updates on key programs, outcomes, and the upcoming transition to the state's new Behavioral Health Services Act. And I would say that that is the most significant public policy update at the state level since I think the the uh mental health services act was passed back in two thousand four, I believe. Yes. Um, so those of us who are um involved in these issues are aware that back in March of twenty uh twenty-four, we cal in California passed proposition one, which made some important updates. Some of these include um expanding some of the outreach and work to um the recovery community and people who uh struggle with substance use disorder. These are issues that are close to my heart, so I really appreciate um Jessica Brown, who is the director of the Office of Justice, Equity, Diversion, and Diversity and Inclusion and the Behavioral Health Services Act. Um leader for the point person for the Department of Public Health.
openpublica.com