Safe House

The design of the Safe House is for male community residents with a history of treatment for opioid overdose by the EMS and do not have a safe place to go while waiting to access treatment services.

There is 24-hour staff, 7 days a week.

The funding provides for staff, food, internet, furniture and rent. A 5-bedroom cozy home-environment allows patients to feel safe and comfortable until their level of care is available.

Safe House Access

A Peer Support Specialist is available to encourage and walk along side of the patient as they begin to navigate the early steps of recovery and gain stability. Patients in the Safe House quickly engage with the recovering community, as we transport them to 12-step meetings daily.

Patients also receive interim counseling services, at the Safe House, from the Warm Hand-Off Therapist.

Overdose

Dispatch contacts the Warm Hand-off Therapist when there is an overdose in progress so they can meet the First Responders and the overdose victim at the hospital. If the victim agrees to start withdrawal management, the hospital admits him. On day three of withdrawal management, the Safe House staff transports the overdose victim to the Safe House.

Home Visit

The second way to enter the Safe House is through conducting a home visit on a resident who has had a recent overdose and the resident agrees to engage in withdrawal management. The overdose victim is eligible for admission to the Safe House, upon release from the hospital. The Springfield Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff’s Department provides a weekly distribution list of overdose data to McKinley Hall.

Voluntarily

The third way to enter the Safe House is if a resident accesses McKinley Hall on their own and is in need of withdrawal management. McKinley Hall staff coordinate with the Springfield Regional Medical Center so the patient can access admission for withdrawal management services.

Upon release, we transport the patient to the Safe House. Regardless of how the patient enters Springfield Regional Medical Center, the Peer Support Specialist and Warm Hand-off Therapist will visit the patient daily until his release on day three. This interaction increases motivation and builds a trusting relationship.

The Road to Recovery

Our case manager provides services while the patient is the Safe House. The case manager helps the patient with insurance needs, medical care, mental health services, and works to develop future recovery plans.

An additional benefit to this program is a partnership with the Springfield Police Department. Dispatch works specifically with Safe House and overdose response team.

The expectation is that all patients will be able to access the recommended level of care within 10-14 days of admission to the Safe House.

The funding for this program comes from the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Clark, Greene and Madison Counties, and federal and state funding.