SF non-profits nix $240M jail, want mental health facility
FIREWORKS BAY AREA PHOTO
SAN FRANCISCO – More than 30 non-profit organizations and 2,500 individuals joined the growing chorus of city officials, community activists and mental health experts calling on City Hall to abandon a proposed $240,000,000 million dollar jail.
With the current jail population half-empty, and with 40 percent of 1,300 in-custody population suffering from some degree of mental illness, the practicality of making such a large investment has drawn increasing criticism for not meeting current needs.
“Approving this project would be a huge step in the wrong direction,” said Joi Jackson-Morgan, deputy director of the 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic. “We are hopeful that City Hall will see the light and recognize that the last thing we need is another detention facility.”
She said further: “This is a plan that was envisioned nearly a decade ago, when our jail population was nearly twice what it is today. With our jail population on the decline, construction of this facility marks the return to the era of mass incarceration, an era San Francisco is trying to leave behind.”
Critics of the jail project are instead calling for the development of a mental health facility. They argue that the current system cannot adequately accommodate individuals with mental illness, and accordingly investment in such a facility would have benefits for both public safety and homelessness. Joining the 31 non-profits are 2,500 individuals who have signed a ColorOfChange petition.
Both the signed petitions and the letter were delivered December 14 to the Mayor’s Office and the Board of Supervisors.
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