The Board of State and Community Corrections has funded a 26-month grant for San Francisco to implement the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program (LEAD SF). Based on the model developed in Seattle, LEAD SF is an innovative pre-booking diversion program that will refer repeat, low-level drug offenders, at the earliest contact with law enforcement, to community-based health and social services as an alternative to jail and prosecution. San Francisco's program will focus on the Tenderloin and Mission districts.
The LEAD SF program launched in October of 2017, to better meet the needs of individuals with a history of substance use and low level drug offenses. The program aims to improve the health status and reduce the recidivism rate of participants, and strengthen collaboration with city and community based partners.
LEAD SF is a multi-agency collaborative project that will be overseen by a Policy Committee composed of partner agency representatives and co-chaired by: William Scott (Chief of Police), George Gascn (District Attorney), and Greg Wagner, Acting Director of Public Health.
For additional information or if you have been referred to LEAD, please call 415-489-7314 or 415-489-7315 or email lead-referrals@sfdph.org or leadsf@sfdph.org.