By admin 
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Pima County has new data on the success of a rehabilitation facility that opened in January and is funded by the One Arizona Opioid Settlement.
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The Sobering Alternative for Recovery Center is a low barrier stabilization site located at South Toole Avenue and East 12th Street.
The report was created by the University of Arizona’s RISE team in partnership with Community Bridges, the company that operates the SAFR Center. After conducting interviews with those involved in the program, gathering patient testimony through exit surveys and documenting patient history, those with the RISE team said they think the program has shown early success.
“People aren’t just walking through the door, they’re also leaving with connections to the care that they want and need in a more ongoing manner,” said Laurel Jacobs, a professor with the University of Arizona’s RISE team.
In the first three months of its pilot program, the SAFR Center served 138 individuals with 96 percent of them receiving referrals to extended treatment upon discharge.
Jacobs said her team found a majority of the people who received treatment from the center presented with complex behavioral health, substance use and social needs, including high rates of homelessness and unemployment.
“That reminds us that this isn’t just a substance use issue, it’s also a whole person issue,” Jacobs said.
The SAFR Center is different from other low barrier, short-term sobering facilities. It is a 15-bed, extended stay center that allows individuals to stay for up to 96 hours, something no other similar center in the county does.
The goal of the pilot program is to test whether that extended stay is successful, but it is also meant to decrease the burden on other entities.
“The law enforcement system and the healthcare system can experience a reduction in the burdens on them when patients are going to the SAFR Center instead of going to jail or instead of going to the emergency room,” Jacobs said.
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Jacobs said after three months, the data shows the program is working. She said early data collection for programs like this is crucial in making sure funding is being used properly.
“Course corrections can happen now at the right time rather than waiting sometimes years to understand whether a program or an intervention has been effective,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs said her research already shows areas of improvement.
“Things like continuing to fill staff vacancies at the center, enhancing access to transportation to the SAFR Center, and strengthening documentation so that we can better track the SAFR Center’s outcomes,” Jacobs said.
Brian Eller, an addiction specialist with the Pima County Health Department, said he supports continuing this program to increase public health but emphasized that this midpoint summary is just the start.
“In order for us to really understand that reduction of burden on law enforcement or in our hospital system, or overall engagement with recovery, we need a lot more data,” Eller said.
Jacobs said her team plans to continue to do studies on the success of the program as it continues. Eller said while it is not up to the health department as to whether the center will continue past its pilot, he supports putting funds toward sobering facilities.
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