Council Scores Big Win for Homeless Californians Seeking Addiction Recovery

For the first time in over a decade, state funding can now be used to provide drug-free housing as part of the response to chronic homelessness, under legislation Gov. Newsom signed today (Sept. 29) that was co-sponsored by the Bay Area Council. The new law authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) and cosponsored with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie empowers cities and counties across California to ensure drug-free environments are part of the homeless response system. 

“This marks a major and long-needed shift in how we support residents working to escape the grip of homelessness and addiction,” said Libby Schaaf, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “For too long, state law unintentionally removed drug-free housing from California’s homeless policy toolbox. This new law restores that tool, allowing local governments to meet more Californians where they are by expanding access to drug-free recovery housing. I want to thank Assemblymember Haney for his years of dedication to solving this problem, to Governor Newsom for signing AB 1556 into law, and for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie for his years of partnership and support.”

Many homeless Californians struggling with addiction need and want drug-free spaces to support their recovery: The 2023 Longitudinal Enumeration and Demographic Study by RAND found 35% of unsheltered individuals expressed a preference for “Recovery or sober living housing”. That same year, the Tenderloin Housing Clinic survey of 200 permanent supportive housing residents found 71% preferred recovery or drug-free housing. However, since 2016 nearly all housing projects for homeless Californians which receive state support have been required to tolerate onsite drug use, resulting in a shortage of drug-free sites.

AB 1556 allows recovery housing to once again qualify for state programs if they establish a return-to-use policy that provides residents with clear guidance on the residences’ policy on the use and possession of drugs and alcohol and an explanation of actions that could lead to eviction and discharge. The new law also establishes protocols for transferring individuals unready for recovery to harm reduction-based housing. 

What Others Are Saying

“People working hard to stay sober deserve the choice to live in a home that supports their recovery,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney. “I’m incredibly grateful to Governor Newsom for signing AB 1556 and for working with us to get this right. This law will finally give Californians in recovery access to safe, stable, drug-free housing while making sure that if someone relapses, they are supported and stay connected to housing and services. This has been years in the making, and I’m proud that California is expanding the options available to people who are ready to get clean and stay clean.”

“Every day is an opportunity for someone struggling with addiction to get on the path to recovery, and we need to be prepared to support them as soon as they’re ready,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. “As we’ve transformed the city’s homelessness and behavioral health work over the last year and a half, it’s become clear that we need more resources for sober, recovery-focused housing. This new law will unlock some of those resources so we can build a system that supports people who are, or want to be, in recovery. I want to thank Assemblymember Haney for his years of work to finally get this critical legislation done and Governor Newsom for signing it into law.”

How We Got Here 

The Bay Area Council began working on recovery housing in 2024 in response to years of increased overdose deaths among homeless Californians and to sprawling public drug use in homeless encampments across the state. 

In 2024, the Bay Area Council, Salvation Army, and the Los Angeles-based SHARE! co-sponsored AB 2893 by Assemblymembers Matt Haney and Chris Ward. That bill would have amended California’s Housing First law to allow drug-free housing to qualify for state support. That bill died in Senate Appropriations.

In 2025, Asm. Haney introduced AB 255, co-sponsored by the Bay Area Council, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, and the Salvation Army, which would have similarly amended California’s Housing First law while limiting state funding to recovery housing programs to 10% of state grants per jurisdiction. AB 255 was vetoed by Governor Newsom, who referenced findings from the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) policy guidance that recovery housing was technically permissible under state Housing First law.

Early this year, and with feedback and support from the Newsom Administration, Asm. Haney introduced AB 1556 which clarifies and operationalizes the Interagency Council on Homelessness’ Recovery Housing Guidance by establishing a process for transferring residents unready for recovery to more appropriate harm-reduction based housing without imposing arbitrary caps on the ability of local governments to use state funding to support recovery housing.