To confront San Francisco's dire struggle with drug addiction, District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey has introduced a new piece of legislation known as "Cash Not Drugs." This incentive-based program proposes to pay eligible welfare recipients up to $100 weekly for abstaining from illicit drugs, according to Dorsey's social media account. The weekly allowance, contingent on drug abstinence, would augment the benefits provided under the County Adult Assistance Program (CAAP).
Today, I announced legislation to create a voluntary sobriety and recovery incentive to offer eligible public assistance recipients a bonus of up to $100 weekly. It’s an ambitious contingency management plan for testing negative for illicit drugs. (1/3)https://t.co/av2jKqmb4L
— Matt Dorsey 🥥🌴 (@mattdorsey) July 29, 2024
The program aligns with the March 2024 passing of Proposition F, which decreed that non-senior, single adults without dependents would need to undergo drug screening and, if necessary, obtain treatment for drug dependency to qualify for most CAAP benefits. "A humane and effective approach to San Francisco's drug crisis should also include rewarding good behavior and not just punishing bad behavior," Dorsey, who is a recovering addict himself, told attendees at a press conference covered by CBS News San Francisco.
Mayor London Breed, who also supported the initiative, reflected a personal note on the matter, saying, as per CBS News San Francisco, "I want to make it just as easy to get treatment, as it is to go out there and buy dope". Breed, who has lost her sister to a drug overdose, emphasized the city's commitment to steering individuals toward recovery. The "Cash Not Drugs" program, if enacted, would be funded by the Homelessness and Supportive Housing Fund, the CAAP Treatment Fund established by Proposition F, and could potentially receive state funding as a Medicaid benefit beneath the Recovery Incentives Program.
Though Dorsey's proposal rings with promise, skeptics question whether this payment tactic will make a durable dent in the city's drug epidemic. The effort branches from the concept known as "contingency management," praised by experts such as Stanford professor Keith Humphreys for its evidence-backed success in influencing behavior. "There are over 150 clinical trials supported by the National Institute of Health that have shown positive effects", Humphreys confirmed, as per The San Francisco Standard. The legislative details, including implementation strategies for the weekly drug testing scheme, will be developed by the Human Services Agency within six months, should the proposal get the green light.
Underlining the dire circumstances that spurred this legislative move, Del Seymour, founder of Code Tenderloin, expressed his weariness at a support rally, "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," he said, as recounted by CBS News San Francisco. Consequently, Seymour and others hope that the "Cash Not Drugs" pilot could offer a shift away from tragedy by providing this innovative model for recovery support.
The city currently allocates up to $712 and $109 monthly cash for CAAP recipients with housing and homeless recipients, respectively. Given that approximately 5,700 residents received CAAP benefits in the 2022-23 fiscal year, the financial ramifications of Dorsey's program are substantial but ostensibly justifiable to city officials aiming to mend the heart of a city punctured by addiction, as reported by The San Francisco Standard.
