Steve Adami, Abstinence-Based Recovery Advocate, Will Lead San Francisco's New Recovery Unit

San Francisco's shift toward sobriety-focused addiction policy now has a leader. Mission Local reports that city officials confirmed this week that Steve Adami will run a new unit focused on recovery inside the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

Who he is

Adami has run the Salvation Army's The Way Out program since 2023. The Salvation Army's announcement at the time described it as a recovery-focused homeless initiative offering treatment, transitional housing, life skills and career development. Before that, Adami directed the reentry division at the San Francisco Adult Probation Department, where he helped build a behavioral-health reentry center and drug-free transitional housing. Mission Local notes that he was formerly incarcerated and is in recovery himself.

What the city says

"Steve Adami brings a unique combination of public-sector leadership and hands-on experience developing recovery-focused services to this important new role," said Mike Levine, executive director of the homelessness department, according to Mission Local. Department sources told Mission Local that Mayor Daniel Lurie helped create the position. Adami will oversee the expansion of sobriety-focused programs.

Why it's controversial

Adami has been an outspoken critic of harm reduction, the public-health approach behind clean-syringe programs and Narcan distribution. Mission Local says he once called it "one of the greatest policy blunders of my lifetime" and deleted his X account days before the hire was to be announced. Whit Guerrero, a member of the Homelessness Oversight Board, called the new position a "costly new role for a politically controversial figure." Addiction medicine clinician Dr. Ayesha Appa told Mission Local that "harm reduction and treatment are part and parcel."

The bigger picture

The appointment follows other moves by Lurie. Mission Local reports that last April he barred nonprofits from handing out drug supplies unless they first connect people to counseling and treatment. In July he signed legislation by Supervisor Matt Dorsey requiring that new permanent supportive housing built without state funding be drug-free.