And this year, several supervisors are proposing a November ballot measure to guarantee mental health services for everyone. Last year, voters approved a tax on some of the city's wealthiest companies to raise money for homeless and mental health services. The department has budgeted nearly $400 million this year for mental health and substance abuse services and last year provided help to more than 25,000 people. San Francisco's public health department has identified 55 people who fit the definition and another 48 people who have been detained six or seven times. The treatment could last for as long as a year. The proposal would allow a court to appoint a public conservator for someone who has been involuntarily detained for psychiatric hospitalization at least eight times in a year under section 5150 of California's welfare and institutions code.

Syringes are scattered in the remains of a tent city being cleared by city workers along Division Street in San Francisco It has not yet been officially considered by supervisors in San Diego and Los Angeles counties. The 11-member San Francisco Board of Supervisors has been divided on the proposal. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, co-authored the state legislation allowing the five-year pilot programs for forced treatment in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego counties. 'Anyone who's been to San Francisco recently, either in our downtown or in the neighborhoods I represent, has seen an alarming number of people who seem to be mentally ill, or in some kind of psychosis, and they seem to be not getting the care that they need,' said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, a co-sponsor of the measure whose district includes the Castro. They shuffle from the streets to jail and psychiatric care, unaware they need steady treatment, sometimes dashing into traffic or screaming at strangers. But the city struggles with a growing number of homeless people - some with disturbing street behavior fueled by drugs, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Incomes are generally high in San Francisco, where the median price of a home is $1.4 million and median monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit is $3,700.

Mayor London Breed says it's inhumane to let addicts languish on the streets, but homeless advocates say the measure is extreme and a violation of civil rights

Love addicts anonymous san francisco