Sacramento sobering center served 457 people in its first year. Most were homeless
A sobering center in downtown Sacramento, believed to be the first of its kind in California, has served 457 people in its first year. Most were homeless.
A former WellSpace community health center at Seventh and H streets has been converted into the Substance Use Respite and Engagement (SURE) center. It’s well-lit and clean, including a lobby, several dark rooms with beds and reclining chairs, a lounge, and staff offices.
“Sobering centers historically are dirty and uncomfortable,” said Ben Avey, WellSpace Health spokesman. “They’re a drunk tank. We wanted to make this anything but that.”
The police department, Sacramento Sheriff’s Office, park rangers, the city Department of Community Response, hospitals, shelters and homeless service organizations can refer people to the center. Before the center opened, many would have ended up at the jail or hospital.
When someone comes in, it has to be their own choice. They can use the restroom, get a change of clothing, rest for awhile, and then talk with staff about entering a county treatment program. Over the spring, about 20% of the center’s patients chose to enter treatment, Avey said. Throughout the course of the year, it was about 6%.
Without the center getting people directly into treatment, people would have to wait about a month, said Jonathan Porteus, WellSpace CEO.
“(The center) empowers them into treatment,” Porteus said.
‘Getting my life back on track’
On Thursday morning last week, Anthony, 43, was sitting in the lounge eating a sandwich and watching television. He had been using crystal meth and alcohol, and sobered up at the center. He said it was a good experience.
“This is a good, stable place,” said Anthony, whose last name is not being published to protect his privacy. “Everyone’s nice and they have everything I need. I’m getting my life back on track.”
Anthony was one of eight patients at the center. Five had methamphetamine in their system.
Throughout the course of the year, 48% of the patients were acutely intoxicated on alcohol, 29% on methamphetamine and 13% on other drugs, including heroin, cocaine, barbiturates, methadone, or cannabis.
Many substance use respite centers do not serve people on methamphetamine, Avey said. He believes the center is the first in the state for people using alcohol and all drugs.
It was important to include meth because many in the city’s homeless population are using, said City Councilman Jeff Harris.
Last year, 30 homeless people died from meth use, according to a report by the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness based on coroner data; that represented 22% of all homeless deaths that year. Another 16 people died from mixed drugs.
Many use meth as a way to escape or cope with the dangerous situations on the street and along the riverfront, especially for women.
“Sexual assault is rampant on the street,” Harris said. “Drugs feel like a way out. But then you need a way out of that.”
More than half the guests at the city’s former Railroad Drive shelter reported they were using meth, Harris said. Staff did not have many options of where to send them. Since the center opened, staff at the city’s Meadowview women’s shelter have sent patients there, along with warming centers. It’s an option for guests at the city’s new X Street shelter, as well.
“This is a place that can deal with a lot of issues they can’t deal with in a traditional shelter,” Harris said. “It will make those sites more effective.”
Patients also have an option to come back to the center whenever they want. Over the course of the year, while the center served 457 patients, it offered 875 sobering sessions. Sometimes patients do not want to enter treatment after their first time to the center, but are more open in follow-up visits.
The longer the center is open, the more it’s being used. During the last week of September, the center served 64 patients, Avey said. Officials expect to keep up that pace. That would mean over the course of a year the center would serve more than 3,000 patients.
Future funding uncertain
The city allocated $1 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding toward the center, said Mary Lynne Vellinga, Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s spokeswoman.
There months after it opened, officials almost had to shut it down due to lack of funding, Harris said. Then the county allocated $522,000.
“For the city and county to work in lockstep on a project, that hasn’t really happened until the SURE center,” said Harris, who considers the center likely his greatest achievement in his seven years on the City Council.
The city plans to allocate another $1.3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars toward it, included in Steinberg’s framework.
“As the project manager pulling everything together into what ultimately became the SURE program, I had the unique role of listening to and bringing disparate stakeholders together to not only break down stigma and barriers around substance use and addiction, but to create a new way for all of us to work together to help our community,” said Kelly Fong Rivas, Steinberg’s chief of staff, in an email.
The county also plans to allocate additional ARP funding to the center and plans to open a separate meth treatment center, said county spokeswoman Janna Haynes.
But with the federal government unlikely to dole out more coronavirus funding to localities, the center’s future funding is uncertain. In the future, Harris hopes to get private funding from hospitals.
“We have to prove the model,” Harris said. “There’s a cost savings of bringing someone here instead of the emergency room. The emergency room is the most expensive room in the city.”
