dr. colfax.item 4 is general public comment. we have not received requests at this time. we can move on to item 5. which is report back from today's community and public health committee. >> the community public health committee met immediately before this commission meeting. we received report on the youth cannabis awareness campaign, created in response to the recent changes in the law. the goal is to provide accurate information to youth about making informed decisions about cannabis use. and they have launched started last year and with some new features this year. social media campaign, on buses, bus signs. the truth or not campaign to help provide decision support for youth in making their own decisions about starting -- about cannabis use and hopefully delaying cannabis use until 2021. we received an update on the cannabis events permit program. that looks at some of the large events in san francisco and how to create environments where cannabis use can be done in a controlled way. after t

dr. colfax. [applause] >> just one other thing i'll add to dr. colfax. we have a program called the street violence intervention program. it started in the mayor's office and last year the police department took over, or at least a piece of that. what that really is about is services to address the many things that go along with violence. when a violent crime occurs, if you're a victim of violent crime, particularly homicide shootings and those things, this team comes together and it's a collaborative effort from across the city, and the department of public health is involved in that, and basically what we do is we try to address some of the things that are associated with violence, the trauma, the wrap around services that are needed when a family suffers a violent crime, and what we have seen and i strongly believe this is the reason that our crime rate overtime is going down. you have to think about the future when you're addressing violence. when a 5-year-old sees violence in their family, say their brother or sister became a victim of violent crime

dr. colfax. this is about who have you brought to testify in front of us today, knowing how important this issue is to us, knowing that it's a priority in a report, knowing that there is a chart on page 9 with this data and i'm just asking what -- what are we tracking with this chart? and nobody can -- nobody can answer that question for me. >> so i apologize if the answers have not met what the expectations that were brought forward. i do think that we can provide useful data, perhaps not the complete picture at this time. i agree that we need to do better job. and i think the people who are actually giving you the information just a few minutes ago would agree, we need to do a better job of looking at our data and making sure that we're measuring the right things, in order to improve our system across the behavioral health field. we are looking for a new behavioral health director. dr. sung agreed to step up and actually manage the system as acting director at this point, in addition to her oth

dr. coo colfax you want to me comments? >> i want to thank the team for the outstanding report and it's informative and it will be a roadmap going forward. and the other piece in terms of the work being done to improve the outcomes is that you're familiar with our process. so one of the things that's not always articulated in our work, internally in the department as we look to improve the quality of services is that quality improvement done through an equity lens will be expected over perhaps the short term. but certainly the long term to close some of the equity gaps. and so depending where you're going for treatment and whether it's prevention in schools or for primary care, or whether in a hospital, how you are treated based on how staff view you, and the implicitly and the explicit biases that affect how you are cared for, and it's in evidence-based method to address the performance issues in those areas. and that performance improvement is really an equity important step. so i think that it's just important to link th

dr. colfax, do you have any comments about the report? >> emphasize what was discussed earlier with regard to the collaboration across the city agencies, i think having going around and proving the wellness of individuals as well as communities is very much key. and sharing the data and using evidence-based approaches to do that. i think from the health department perspective, obviously we do know and know that recovery is possible and that we want to offer as many opportunities for people to reach recovery as possible and that it takes off in multiple attempts for people to do that. our goal continues to meet people where they are, and across the continuum of the hsoc system you saw, to build that out and ensure there are treatment options available for people so that, whether it's a behavioral health, detox center, on the street, that we are investing in the options for people so they have the opportunities to avail themselves of treatment when they are ready. >> i would also like to thank you, and i know i'll do something wrong with yo

dr. colfax hired dr. bland to effect some of the changes and excited to work with am and i agree we need to do a better job of ensuring people with high acuity are getting access to services and not creating the revolving doors. i don't agree that we can't -- we shouldn't try to fix, just because there is one problem does not mean we shouldn't try to fix another, what i'm trying to say. we are not talking about a large number of individuals who will be affected by sb1045, and i have seen too many people dying on the streets and i would say the vast, vast majority, the vast majority of people we engage with accept services, they want housing. that is absolutely true and i don't want to, you know, my concern -- i don't want to make it about like the homeless population or about people who are struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues. the vast majority of them are perfectly capable and should make their own decisions about the treatment or housing, but a small group of people are dying on the

dr. colfax. he is also all on board with disaster planning and operations because d.p.h. will play a large role in patient care afterwards and i also had some really good conversations with him on, on the healthy streets operation center and how we can partner to assist with the homelessness and opioid crisis that is on our streets. i like to call sort of what i want us to do, e.m.s. prevention. we do such a good job with fire prevention and i think we can get out there in front of some things, particularly with some of the population on the street, and do some community para medicine out there to get people into services. so i think that's some of the directions we're going in, in the department, disaster prep for our entire department and with other departments. then you know, looking at e.m.s. and our call volume and what we can do to help the mayor meet, meet the priorities of this administration, in terms of homelessness and opioid use. last, but not least, thank you all for attending the swearing in ceremony the other day. it was really a wonderful experience for my

dr. colfax and his team, jeff and his team, we have to work together to address these issues. we're doing that. commander is here, the department lead, and that is just one of the many things we're doing to work together to address these issues. we're seeing a difference in that. the last thing i want to talk about is really the investment in the environment. i mean the changes that are happening in the environment, we mentioned just the environment in terms of the changes in the direction of two way streets opposed to one way streets, the bicycle lanes, and things we're doing to make the streets safer. these are the efforts that we have to address together. so collectively, as we do this, we expect it to continue to improve and we like to hear from you, and also you all, particularly in the tenderloin, because you are all so engaged and i say this, you'll hear me say this any time i speak publically, we have to continue to work together on this. you need to tell us the things we need to fix. you need to tell us the things we need to do better and we need to work towards getti

dr. grant colfax, shareen mcfadden, and kelly hirmoto, director of transitions of the department of public health. so, with that. >> can i see if any of my other colleagues have opening comments? no? no? i just -- make a few opening remarks. i wanted to start off by just saying how much we all agree that abandoning mentally ill people to wander the street without care or medication is morally wrong and dangerous and i agree with the mayor and supervisor mandelman that our system is broken. i think we have seen that in the last few hearings we have had on the subject at the budget committee. and that i desperately want to help mentally ill people and people suffering from substance abuse who are very ill on our streets. be all know that when reagan closed the mental health hospitals in the 1980s we never created an alternative place for people to go and it's way pastime that we build a modern care system for people with mental illness and substance use disorders. i also want to make it clear that i believe that some people need forced treatment. i believe in conserving people in certain cir