"Cash Not Drugs" program would give San Francisco residents up to $100 weekly for staying clean
Eligible San Franciscans could soon receive payments of up to $100 per week for abstaining from illicit drugs under a proposed "Cash Not Drugs" legislation.
Accompanied by a crowd of approximately 50 supporters, District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey announced the legislation on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Monday morning. Mayor London Breed, District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and six community leaders also gathered to support the legislation, which they heralded as a potential remedy to the city's devastating drug crisis.
Del Seymour, founder of Code Tenderloin, was one of the community leaders at Monday's event.
"I'm real tired. You know what I'm tired of? I'm tired of those plastic yellow sheets, laying on the ground with a body under them in the Tenderloin," said Seymour, whose nonprofit helps community members gain long-term employment.
The proposed "Cash Not Drugs" program would serve beneficiaries of the San Francisco County Adult Assistance Program who have been screened and diagnosed for substance use disorders and referred to treatment, Dorsey said.
He added the legislation was made possible by the passage of Proposition F - the March 2024 ballot measure that required single, non-senior adults without dependents to undergo screening, evaluation and treatment for drug dependency to qualify for most CAAP benefits if the city suspects they are dependent on illegal drugs.
The weekly payouts, Dorsey said, could increase from smaller amounts all the way up to $100 for continued abstinence from illegal drugs. The city would award the money in addition to CAAP recipients' pre-existing assistance.
"A humane and effective approach to San Francisco's drug crisis should also include rewarding good behavior and not just punishing bad behavior," said Dorsey, who added he was a recovering addict himself at the Monday press conference.
According to a statement by Dorsey's office, approximately 5,700 residents received monthly CAAP benefits in the 2022-23 fiscal year - which primarily included cash assistance and employment services for poor residents without dependent children. Immigrants, refugees and those who cannot work or do not quality for other government benefit programs also numbers among CAAP recipients, the office added.
Currently, CAAP recipients with housing are eligible for up to $712 in cash per month, and homeless recipients receive a reduced grant of $109 per month, the office said.
"Cash Not Drugs" would be funded by the Homelessness and Supportive Housing Fund and the CAAP Treatment Fund, established by Proposition F, the office said. It also said the state could help fund "Cash Not Drugs" as a Medicaid benefit under the Recovery Incentives Program.
"I want to make it just as easy to get treatment, as it is to go out there and buy dope," said Breed, who told the audience she also lost her sister to drug overdose. "Whatever it takes to get people on the right path, that's what we need to do."
The legislation should be scheduled for a hearing in September, Dorsey said.
"This legislation will create a voluntary sobriety and recovery incentive," said Dorsey. "It will offer eligible recipients of general assistance in San Francisco a bonus of up to $100 if they test negative for illicit drugs."
If enacted, his office said the Human Services Agency would develop a plan within six months for how to implement the program and its weekly drug testing scheme, his office said. The plan, the office added, may establish a cap on the number of initial participants.
Wilson Walker contributed to this report.