The Facts

Recovery housing has a clearer path to state funding under Assemblymember Matt Haney’s Assembly Bill 1556, just signed by Governor Newsom. The new funding rules require relapse support, protect prescribed addiction medications, and prohibit eviction solely for relapse without another lease violation.

Haney also passed Assembly Bill 1897, covering evaluations of whether people leaving prison must receive involuntary mental-health treatment as a condition of parole. Evaluators must consider specific risk factors, including violence tied to the person’s mental illness, current mental condition, treatment response, and ability to inflict harm. The law preserves the existing legal standard for involuntary treatment.

The Context

California’s “Housing First” policy prioritizes housing without requiring sobriety. That left recovery-housing providers uncertain about how to maintain drug-free environments while qualifying for state funds, as Haney’s office explained. AB 1556 sets rules for supporting residents seeking sobriety without returning people who relapse to homelessness.

AB 1897 followed the case of Bill Gene Hobbs, convicted of repeatedly targeting women in San Francisco. Clinicians agreed his severe mental illness was not in remission but disagreed about his dangerousness; a court ordered his release from a state hospital. Those conflicting assessments prompted the legislation, according to District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, whose office co-sponsored it.

The GrowSF Take

We're thrilled to see Haney and Jenkins tackle these big issues to improve recovery housing and public safety. People seeking sobriety deserve a supportive place to live, and release decisions should account for both treatment progress and violence history.