Safe Refuge

They offer outpatient and telemedicine. Which one fits is usually decided by how much structure the first few weeks need, and Long Beach has 8 other centers within 14 miles.

They do not detox. Withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines in particular is a medical event, and the closest place set up for it is in Long Beach, 2.1 miles away.

They treat pregnant and postpartum clients. Ask whether prenatal care is on site or coordinated with somewhere else in Long Beach.

Long Beach has 366 free AA meetings as well, which is not treatment but costs nothing and needs no referral.

They prescribe 1 medication: buprenorphine. What a provider actually stocks changes, so ask for the one you need by name before driving to Long Beach.

There is normally a family component, and it is one of the better questions to put to two programs. A release of information, signed by the patient, is what opens that door, and it can be narrow or wide. Ask what the family part of the program is called and who runs it, because that shows how seriously it is treated.

The block you are offered and the time the work takes are two different things, and that is the honest answer. Some people cycle through more than one level of care, and that is the intended design rather than a failure. Ask what the step down looks like after the main program ends.

One removes you from the situation and the other treats you inside it, and that is the whole of the decision. An assessment by a clinician is how this is normally decided, and it takes about an hour. Ask what happens if the level you start at turns out to be the wrong one.