"Providing safe, short-term sobering and care coordination for acutely intoxicated adults"
The San Francisco Sobering
Center offers a refuge from the streets and a safe place for
chronic public alcoholics to sober. The focus of the Sobering
Center is the homeless, alcohol-dependent individual; however,
anyone found intoxicated in public can use its
services.
Since July 2003, our program has
provided care for 14,000 individuals for a total of 48,000
encounters. Although nearly two-thirds of individuals visit the
center only once, a small number of individuals are seen more
frequently. A majority of our clients have a history of
homelessness, and our initial work found that over 90% of clients
were homeless at the time of service. Today, up to 25% of annual
unduplicated clients are permanently housed.
Our impact has been substantial.
Nearly 40% of our clients arrive via ambulance with another 10%
from emergency department referrals. Those arriving by ambulance –
over 14,000 encounters by end of year 2015 – are direct diversions
from emergency departments, providing relief to overcrowding and
unnecessary admissions. Of note, the percentage of clients
requiring a higher level of care – with referrals to medical or
psychiatric emergency departments – remains at less than 4 percent
overall.
Through our targeted focus, the
Sobering Center has been able to form ongoing relationships with
frequent users and provide the support necessary when they are
ready for positive change. The need is still great, however, and
until there is a substantial solution to long-term chronic
intoxication, the Sobering Center will continue to provide an
alternative to jail services and emergency care.
Copyright 2014 San Francisco Sobering Center.
All Rights Reserved.