WHAT YOU CAN DO

ATTEND

The first budget hearing is June 22 at 5pm they need to hear from you before that! And we also need people to show up for the hearing to support us. Join us at City Hall if you can! Thanks for support us in our independence and harm reduction as a whole!!!

What: Please attend the San Francisco budget hearings and help advocate for sufficient funding for effective harm reduction programs.
Where: San Francisco City Hall
When: Thursday, June 22 at 5pm

CONTACT

Pease email or call the Supervisors on the Budget Committee and let them know that Harm-Reduction services save lives! Here are the email addresses and telephone numbers:

Chris Daly's Office
John.avalos@sfgov.org
554-7969

Bevan Dufty's Office
Boe.hayward@sfgov.org
554-6987

Sean Elsbernd's Office
rebekahkrell@sfgov.org
554-6517

Ross Mirkarimi's Office
Boris.delepine@sfgov.org
554-7630

Aaron Peskin's Office
David.owen@sfgov.org
554-7451

Below is a letter from the director of HRC that gives more infor on these programs.

In solidarity-
Catherine

MORE INFO

Dear Mr. Daly,

As regional director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, I am writing to express our deep concern over the insufficient allocation of city funding for essential harm reduction services, and request that San Francisco help fund these highly effective programs. The Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) Project; the Stimulant Treatment Outpatient Program (STOP); and the Homeless Youth Alliance (HYA) are three of the most effective, innovative harm reduction programs we have in San Francisco, and all three deserve more careful consideration for funding this year. HRC respectfully asks the Board to fund these programs in the 2006-2007 budget.

One of the Harm Reduction Coalition's key programs, the Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) Project needs only $75,000 from the County of San Francisco to continue and increase the lifesaving overdose prevention and education work we do in collaboration with numerous community based organizations and the Department of Public Health. Fatal drug overdose is a leading cause of accidental death in San Francisco, killing more people than car accidents, homicide and suicide, but no city funding is currently provided for overdose prevention, recognition, and response education.

The DOPE Project was created in December 2001 to fill a gap in services identified by the Heroin Committee of San Francisco's Treatment on Demand Planning Council. After discovering that half of heroin-related deaths in San Francisco occurred in SROs, The DOPE Project began working with tenant organizers to conduct overdose trainings for SRO residents in areas at high risk for fatal overdoses-the Tenderloin, Sixth Street, and Mission District. DOPE, with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's HIV Prevention Project and San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH), began an exciting program expansion in November 2003-the Naloxone Distribution Program. Since the inception of the Naloxone Distribution Program, approximately 700 prescriptions for naloxone have been distributed and, due to the administration of naloxone, a reported 160 lives have been saved. With the dramatic increase in City and county funding for SRO-based housing, there is an increased need for drug overdose prevention education and services for active drug users, their neighbors, and friends. This program fulfills San Francisco's commitment to harm reduction and the public health of drug-users in its most immediate goal - saving lives.

The Stimulant Treatment Outpatient Program (STOP) is San Francisco's first specialized methamphetamine/cocaine harm reduction outpatient treatment program. Over the past 15 years, STOP has provided integrated addiction and mental health treatment to over 2000 crack/cocaine users and over 600 methamphetamine users. While public health officials across California are looking at new interventions for treating underserved methamphetamine users, San Francisco is defunding a model program that could be better used to build capacity, both among other local drug treatment programs to create new methamphetamine treatment tracks, and statewide. Specialized interventions for men who have sex with men have rightfully been funded, but STOP is one of the only programs that reach female methamphetamine users. We need more of these programs, not fewer. STOP has already weathered several cuts over the years and its current CBHS budget is $304,281. Although it would be a further reduction, with approximately $200,000, STOP could continue to offer this essential treatment option.

Homeless Youth Alliance requires $200,000 to continue and expand its critical services to youth, including syringe exchange. For the past 14 years two programs have successfully served the youth of Haight Ashbury: the Haight Ashbury Youth Outreach Team and the San Francisco Needle Exchange. At the end of this month these two programs as they stand now will close their doors. In response to this closure and the on-going community need, staff, volunteers and advisory board members of these programs have created the Homeless Youth Alliance.

While essentially the same program, they will now operate independently and currently have a much smaller budget. Their multi-faceted approach with high-risk youth is unparalleled in the city, and it would be a loss to let an excellent harm reduction-oriented program like the Homeless Youth Alliance continue to operate on a bare bones budget.

Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our requests. Please call us if we can be of assistance in any way.

Sincerely,

Hilary McQuie
Regional Director
Harm Reduction Coalition
1440 Broadway, Suite 510
Oakland, CA 94612
Tel: 510-444-6969
Fax: 510-444-6977
www.harmreduction.org
mcquie@harmreduction.org