Renton Regional Fire Authority Chief Rick Marshall is on a mission to get the word out to emergency responders about the sobering center pilot program.
Since its inception in January, the Renton-based program is “grossly underutilized by first responders, both police and fire agencies,” said Marshall.
The nine-month pilot program, located within St. Vincent De Paul, 575 Rainier Ave N., is an extension of the Dutch Shisler Sobering Center in Seattle, and a product of the partnership between King County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services division, RRFA, Pioneer Human Services, and other emergency responders and social services in the Renton and Kent area, including Renton Police Department, Kent Police Department, Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority and Valley Medical Center
The program provides safe overnight shelter and basic medical attention to those under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. seven nights a week. The center accommodates eight patients at a time, and patients can stay up to 11 hours. What sets this program apart is its aim to connect patients to social services they need.
It is “the way we can deliver the most appropriate care is taking them to the most appropriate place,” Marshall explained.
The center was designed to allow various emergency responders from Renton and Kent to redirect those under the influences from the emergency rooms to the center.
“I can speak from 33 years of experience… having the opportunity to have this pilot center and this sobering center, which is an alternative to doing nothing or taking somebody down to the emergency room where they’re very quickly evaluated and discharged, is a great option for us to have,” he said.
The program launched in January, but the word hasn’t spread among emergency responders as expected, leaving the center underutilized, explained Marshall at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting. Fire and police personnel continue to direct individuals to the emergency rooms instead of the center.
As of July 10, the center has provided care for 195 patients. About 116 of them have been walk-in patients. Around 56 patients were repeat patients.
Marshall presented the numbers at the meetings, indicating the program isn’t achieving what it was meant to do — work with police and fire departments to divert individuals from hospital stays.
The number of repeat patients and walk-ins also indicate individuals aren’t necessarily connecting social services, but rather are using the center as a safe place to spend the night.
According to Michele Plorde, director of the county’s Emergency Medical Services division, the referral rate has been sporadic and the center has yet to reach the maximum capacity. The most patients they have had so far this year is four, which is half the center’s capacity. When the program first started, they expected about 6-8 patients daily on average.
To combat the underutilization of the center, Marshall is visiting each fire station in the region to educate firefighters about the center.
When the pilot was initially proposed, there was issues about overcrowding and the attraction of individuals from outside the service area.
“There were concerns about people from other agencies coming in from outside Renton and finding Renton home,” Marshall said. “From the data we have looked at, we haven’t seen anything like that. If anything, it hasn’t been utilized. But we do not see this huge influx of people coming using the services and sticking around the city.”
The pilot program will end in September, and all involved agencies will meet and present the collected data to the county.
According to Plorde, one of the important study measures is if individuals received outreach, and if they did, where along the spectrum they were at.
“This is learning opportunity for us to see what works and what doesn’t, and feed into the larger conversation across the county about homelessness,” said Plorde.
