CCFR to take over management of sleep off program July 1

Capital City Fire/Rescue is set to take over management of Juneau’s sleep off program on July 1. The service, which provides field evaluation and transportation of inebriated individuals to a safe space where they can sober up, is currently housed at Bartlett Regional Hospital. With the change of management comes a new model and a new name — CCFR CARES, or Community Assistance Response and Emergency Services.

“The new identity is to better reflect our vision of how the program will serve the community. Managing the sleep off center will be one facet. The core purpose of CARES is to connect people with needed services, start whittling away at their challenges and barriers, and hopefully reduce their reliance on emergency services,” Fire Chief Rich Etheridge said.

The supervised sleep off center will operate 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul on Teal Street in the space formerly occupied by the thrift shop. CARES will be collocated with St. Vincent de Paul’s Community Navigator program. Patrons will have immediate access to the navigators as well as access to bathing, laundry, and clothing resources.

“Relocating sleep off services from BRH to CCFR allows BRH to better focus on their core medical-related services and offer expanded substance abuse treatment programs to those in need. At the same time, sleep off services is a natural expansion of CCFR’s current line of work. In the long run, we expect to see reductions in non-emergent emergency medical calls, increased number of firefighting staff to improve our community readiness for major incidents, and a better safety net for vulnerable individuals,” Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove said.

No new funding is being allocated for the program; the existing budget from BRH is being transferred to CCFR. Over the next several months, CCFR will evaluate how the program can best meet any further needs without duplicating existing community services.

For more information, contact the City Manager’s Office at 586-5240, or Fire Chief Rich Etheridge at 586-0251 or [email protected].