Amidst the broader context of dramatic policy and funding shifts at the federal, state and local levels, we are grateful to be continuing to offer free, high-quality integrated mental health and substance use treatment to people needing more than abstinence-only treatment options at all our services sites.

Our services:

HRTC provides integrated mental health and substance use engagement and treatment services throughout San Francisco to people who use drugs and struggle with significant resource needs. We operate three Mobile Pop-up sites, offer onsite services at three Navigation Centers and three drop-in centers, and provide therapy and outreach services alongside the Homeless Youth Alliance. Since January, our clinicians provided more than 10,200 therapy contacts to 1,509 unduplicated individuals and more than 22,000 outreach contacts.

Our training team, led by Maurice Byrd, LMFT, offers training, individual and group clinical supervision/consultation to over 40 non-profit social services organizations primarily located in San Francisco and the surrounding area. We also offer individual therapeutic support to multiple agencies through tailored Employee Assistance Programs. All of these services are taught from, and rooted in, the foundation of harm reduction therapy. The most requested trainings are: harm reduction 101, trauma informed care, and de-escalation & negotiation skills.

Our team:

We recently welcomed two new full-time clinicians, bringing our therapist team up to a total of eleven. We also welcomed Dr. Perri Franskoviak as part-time Clinical Director to support the team’s professional development and keep us focused on integrating emerging clinical best practices into our low-threshold therapy services.

New Services:

Thanks to the generous financial support of Keith & Prisca Geeslin, we are hiring a full-time clinical case manager (job posting HERE) and a part-time harm reduction engagement counselor (job posting HERE) for Merlin, our drop-in mental health and substance use treatment center! Combined with additional investment in needed program and client supplies, these positions will help our therapists spend more time in session with clients and less time managing infrastructure needs, while also allowing us to securely connect more clients to needed resources. We look forward to providing more harm reduction therapy and strengthening referral partnerships at Merlin in the coming year! We are proud to have our work recognized with Keith and Prisca’s support and grateful for their investment in HRTC.

Political Context:

It is open-season politically on vulnerable people, who are often scapegoated as the source of systemic problems. Poor policy hits the most vulnerable quickly, and many of our clients are experiencing increased challenges with their mental health and substance use while also experiencing reductions in benefits and basic need supports, including housing, healthcare and food/food stamp access. We will continue to advocate where appropriate, educate our team and our community members on what is changing, their rights, and how we can support them through challenging times. The Merlin team has begun hosting rights workshops with the ACLU and Coalition on Homelessness. HRTC leaders continue to join the Homeless Emergency Service Providers Association, Latino Task Force, Tenderloin Stakeholders Workgroup, and the Treatment On Demand Coalition in ongoing advocacy work on behalf of our clients’ needs for resources and dignified, effective treatment options.

Our programmatic priorities for FY 25/26:

1 . Stabilize and enhance the quality of services at Merlin through new positions aimed at deepening referral partnerships and resource connection; expand group and individual treatment access during drop-in hours;

2 . Strengthen our training program by increasing the capacity of our clinical team to provide additional training and consultation support to better meet demand;

3 . Add additional staffing and service partnerships across our sites, particularly focusing on our mobile and shelter-based programs.

Thank you for your interest in harm reduction therapy, the folks we serve and for your continued support!

Anna Berg, LCSW, Clinical Program Director

 

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