$120 million shifted from police a boost for Black causes.
Black businesses, nonprofits among the beneficiaries
After roughly eight months of planning, San Francisco city leaders unveiled a road map Thursday to shift $60 million in local law enforcement funding into the city’s Black neighborhoods over the next year.
Spearheaded by Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Shamann Walton, “The Dream Keeper Initiative” aims to address decades of structural inequities experienced by African American residents by investing in greater economic opportunities, home ownership rates, youth development and other social endeavors. The plan calls for a total of $120 million of law enforcement funds to be redistributed over the next two years.
“We know that to actually see true, lasting change, we need to focus on helping entire families — from early education for kids, to job training and workforce support for their parents, and serve communities that have been systematically harmed by past policies,” Breed said Thursday in a news release announcing the plan.
Breed and Walton pledged to shift funding from the police and sheriff ’s departments
last June, after George Floyd’s death in Minnesota set off national protests against police brutality and spurred local calls to redistribute law enforcement funding into neglected communities.
The planned cuts represent 6% of the Police Department’s roughly $700 million annual budget and 8% of the Sheriff ’s Department, which has an annual budget of $260 million.
The city’s Human Rights Commission convened more than 60 community meetings and listening sessions and surveyed more than 700 residents as part of the planning process, the mayor’s office said.
The plan for the first year of funding includes: ⏩ $14.9 million for restorative justice programs and culturally competent mental health services;
⏩ $10 million in housing support and stabilization;
⏩ $7 million to create a guaranteed income program;
⏩ $6.6 million for Blackled nonprofits offering technical workforce training;
⏩ $6 million for workforce training and development programs for youth and adults;
⏩ $4.8 million to increase diversity in the city’s hiring pipeline;
⏩ $3 million for Blackowned small businesses; ⏩ and $7.7 million for an assortment of other initiatives, including early education programs, African American cultural spaces and commercial corridors.
Black people make up 5% of San Francisco’s population but account for 35% of the city’s unhoused population, according to city data. The average income for a Black household is $31,000 compared to $110,000 for white families, contributing to a reality where approximately 19% of the city’s Black children live in poverty.
“This initial investment to improve outcomes for the Black community and overturn years of disinvestment and inequitable resource distribution is just the first step in righting the wrongs of history,” Walton said in a statement.