About the Community Ambassadors Program
The Community Ambassadors Program (CAP) is a community safety and neighborhood engagement program. We engage, inform and assist community members in San Francisco. CAP also provides a visible, non-law enforcement safety presence in several neighborhoods. This helps us build trust, calm tensions, and prevent violence.
CAP teams and work areas
The Community Ambassadors Program has six teams that work in the following neighborhoods:
- Chinatown
- District 5 neighborhoods, including: Haight-Ashbury/Lower Haight/Hayes Valley/Fillmore/Divisadero
- Mid-Market/Tenderloin
- Mission
- Outer Sunset
- Southeast neighborhoods, including: Bayview/Visitacion Valley/Portola
The map above shows CAP work areas of the corresponding fiscal year.
About the data
Community Ambassadors conduct a wide variety of services. Whether it's helping with directions, or connecting someone to a shelter, Ambassadors track every service they provide.
The following data dashboards highlight the services provided by the Community Ambassadors Program, by the these categories:
- Safety and wellness: reports to 311, safety escorts, and wellness checks.
- Neighborhood support: directions and wayfinding, merchant visits, and service referrals.
- Crisis response and intervention: overdose response, de-escalations, and calls to 911.
All data is self-reported by Community Ambassadors on a daily basis and dashboards are updated monthly. To learn more about each service type, read the "data notes" below each dashboard.
Community Ambassadors have logged a cumulative total of 294,294 interactions this fiscal year.
Safety and Wellness
This dashboard highlights safety and wellness services provided by Community Ambassador teams. These services include: reports to 311, safety escorts, and wellness checks. For more information on these services, read the "data notes and sources" below the dashboard.
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
Key Terms
- Community Ambassadors support street cleanliness with Reports to 311. They respond to street conditions like: hazards, human waste, graffiti on public property, clogged street drains, needle pick up, and more. Ambassadors also report discarded hypodermic needles to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF).
- Safety Escorts are a safe passage for anyone in the neighborhoods with Ambassadors. Ambassadors walk with people to get them where they are going. Safety escorts can be requested in advance by calling 311.
- Community Ambassadors provide Wellness Checks to assess someone's current wellbeing. Ambassadors check on people who are sleeping on sidewalks. They offer service referrals to people when relevant.
Neighborhood Support
This dashboard highlights neighborhood support services provided by Community Ambassador teams. These services include: directions and wayfinding, merchant visits, and service referrals. For more information on these services, read the "data notes and sources" below the dashboard.
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
Key Terms
- Community Ambassadors support residents and visitors with Directions/Wayfinding. They help with directions, safety escorts, or help navigating public transit.
- Merchant Visits involve a check-in with neighborhood businesses and storefronts. Ambassadors engage with merchants' concerns or requests. They also provide merchants with outreach materials or relevant information.
- Community Ambassadors provide Service Referrals to people. This may include a referral to a shelter bed or to an immigration legal service, and more.
Crisis Response and Intervention
This dashboard highlights crisis response and intervention services provided by Community Ambassador teams. These services include: overdose response, de-escalations, and calls to 911. For more information on these services, read the "data notes and sources" below the dashboard.
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
Key Terms
- Community Ambassadors provide an Overdose Response when there is a probable opioid overdose. Ambassadors are trained to use naloxone nasal spray, also known as NARCAN, to reverse the effect of an opioid overdose. Note: when a "0" (zero) appears on the Overdose Response dashboard, this means no response happened that month.
- De-escalations occur when Community Ambassadors respond to situations that need immediate intervention. Help may be requested by a merchant or other person in the neighborhood where Ambassadors work. Depending on the severity of the situation, Ambassadors work together to de-escalate, or call in an emergency response.
- Community Ambassadors make Emergency Calls to 911, when needed. Ambassadors call 911 in crisis situations, providing necessary details to the 911 operator.
Learn more
The Community Ambassadors Program (CAP) is a community safety and neighborhood engagement program.
Learn more about who we are, what we do, and where we work.
For questions about the data or to make a request for our monthly reports, email community.ambassadors@sfgov.org