Tag: Financial Justice Project

San Francisco County, as of Aug. 10, 2020, will no longer generate revenue from incarcerated people and their families through phone calls. All phone calls and video calls from jails will be free under a first-in-the-nation fixed rate contract negotiated by the Sheriff’s Office. Additionally in April 2020, the Sheriff’s Office eliminated commission or profit in the jail commissary (jail store) and prices dropped an average of 43 percent.

San Francisco is the first locality in the nation to lift all outstanding driver’s license holds for individuals who miss traffic court dates. A report found that residents from Bayview Hunters Point had their licenses suspended at a rate of more than three times the state average.

President London Breed today joined City leaders and community advocates in announcing groundbreaking legislation that will eliminate all existing criminal justice fees within the City and County of San Francisco’s jurisdiction. This includes fees related to adult probation, home detention, alcohol testing and others which are ​levied on individuals coming into and out of the City’s criminal justice system.

City agencies are banding together to conduct a final push for outreach targeting the City’s most vulnerable unemployed and underemployed residents. Under a program signed into law by Gov. Brown, individuals with suspended driver’s licenses can have them reinstated immediately and reduce debt associated with court orders. The program is an important opportunity for low-income San Franciscans to relieve debt and lift one of the most intractable barriers to employment.