SFAF’s clinical care, syringe “pick up” service, HIV prevention affected in latest round of $20m in cuts from SF Dept. of Public Health
Contact: media@sfaf.org
SAN FRANCISCO, April 20, 2026–San Francisco Department of Public Health has released a list of proposed $20 million in cuts to community-based public health organizations including San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF). The latest round of cuts is on top of the more than $17 million in cuts to community-based organizations released in February, 2026. At SFAF, HIV prevention and clinical services, substance use treatment and counseling, capacity building, and a community-wide syringe litter “pick up” service will be significantly impacted.
“We are deeply concerned about the scale of these cuts to the HIV and public health infrastructure in San Francisco–not only to San Francisco AIDS Foundation, but to all of our community partners,” said Tyler TerMeer, PhD, CEO. “These cuts will affect the progress we’ve made in HIV prevention in San Francisco–progress that’s taken decades to build. Additional reductions to substance use services, hepatitis C, overdose prevention, and other safety net services will be felt most acutely by the communities already facing the greatest inequities. I cannot overstate the harm these cuts will cause if implemented as proposed.”
Over two years, the cuts to San Francisco AIDS Foundation total more than $1.2m, and include (over two years) $414,00 for a city-wide syringe litter “pick up” and overdose prevention service; $433,770 for capacity-building efforts that support an HIV, STI, hepatitis C, and substance use program for Black and African American communities; $60,000 for treatment connections through safer use supply distribution; $101,803 for an outpatient substance use treatment and counseling program; $100,498 for clinical services at Strut; $86,251 for “health access point” services for men who have sex with men; and, $25,164 for building and maintaining HIV, hepatitis C, and STI services.
More than $400,000 will be cut from the budget supporting a syringe “Pick Up Crew” Service at SFAF. This program has been ongoing and supported by the City since 2018, in response to public concern over substance use-related litter in public areas. The highly-successful program dispatches staff members to pick up litter reported by community members, conducts neighborhood sweeps, and dispenses overdose prevention medication and education. In 2025, the program picked up more than 40,000 discarded syringes in the community. Cuts to the program are likely to reduce staffing, hours of operation, and program reach–undermining a program that directly responds to both community concerns and public health needs.
Other cuts to behavioral health services include funding for SFAF’s state-certified drug and alcohol treatment program, the Stonewall Project. Developed and tailored to meet the needs of gay, bi, trans and other men who have sex with men, the treatment program integrates issues around HIV, sex, and substance use to support people in reducing or abstaining from substances, reducing harm from use, and other positive goals. In 2025, the program provided services to more than 500 clients and conducted more than 250 individual counseling sessions every month.
“As the City focuses on improving the quality of street conditions, and investing in substance use treatment access and care, we are particularly dismayed to see that services such as the Pick Up Crew and our substance use treatment program will be targeted in this round of cuts,” said Dr. TerMeer. “Years of data and evidence have proven the success of these programs and the benefits they have for not only our clients but our larger San Francisco community as well. These are exactly the kinds of programs that help stabilize communities while connecting people to care.”
HIV, STI, and hepatitis C testing, prevention, and treatment services will be affected through cuts made to the Health Access Point (HAP) model of care, which SFAF plays an integral role in supporting. More than $86,000 will be reduced to the “gay and men who have sex with men” HAP, led by SFAF, to provide HIV testing, prevention, and PrEP to a population in San Francisco that carries the highest number of HIV infections yearly. A substantial amount of capacity-building funds will also be cut that currently allow SFAF to partner with and support the provision of HIV, STI, hepatitis C, and overdose prevention services through Rafiki Coalition to the Black and African American community in San Francisco.
“This is not an appropriate moment to reduce investment in these services,” said Dr. TerMeer. “These cuts come at a time when community organizations across San Francisco, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, are experiencing cuts to federal grants and attacks on LGBTQ+ communities, people living with HIV, immigrants, and people who use substances. The cumulative impact of these shifts will directly constrain our ability to deliver clinical services at the scale and speed our communities need. This is a moment that calls for alignment, partnership, and sustained investment in what we know works—not a retreat from the communities most in need of care.”
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