Polk County’s first sobering center has received a $750,000 investment from the federal government. Construction continues and the opening is scheduled for this fall.
The facility, called the Polk County Life Services Center, will also house an emergency psychiatric care facility and provide crisis intervention services for people experiencing mental health emergencies.
U.S. Representative Zach Nunn secured the $750,000 in federal funds through the Community Project Funding process, which allows members of Congress to set funding priorities within the federal budget.
“This community-based resource here in the heart of Des Moines is a way to keep intoxicated people and those going through a mental health crisis, often related to addiction, from having to go to jail or the emergency room and get them the help they need,” Nunn said Monday at a news conference with Polk County and Des Moines officials.
Nunn said it can cost thousands of dollars to send someone through the criminal justice system and into prison.
“But to get them into a detox program or a rehab program, we’re talking about just $13 a day to change a life,” he said. “And not only does that help that family, that parent, those kids, it has an impact on what we can do for our communities here with the dollars we’re investing wisely.”
The facility, located at 1914 Carpenter Ave. in Des Moines, will house a five-bed sobering center, a mental health emergency room (open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and a crisis observation center for people in mental health crisis.
The sobering center is new, while emergency care and crisis observation services will be relocated from existing Broadlawns Medical Center facilities and will double in size.
The center will be run by the nonprofit St. Vincent De Paul, and Broadlawns staff will operate the emergency care and crisis observation center. Staff assigned to the sobering center will consist of trained emergency medical technicians and paramedics, said Annie Uetz, CEO of Polk County Behavioral Health & Disability Services.
Angela Connolly, chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, said she hopes users of the facility’s sobering center will also take advantage of the center’s other services to gain access to long-term treatment and recovery opportunities.
More: New redlining? Neighbors in Des Moines fear that sobering situation could hinder stability and investment
“We know this doesn’t happen overnight, but we hope that maybe by the second or third or maybe the twentieth time they come to this site, they’ll finally decide they’re ready to accept the help they need,” she said. “And our partners, St. Vincent De Paul and Broadlawns, will make that happen.”
Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen said the city has agreed to cover half of the sobering center’s annual costs, calling it an important investment that will help keep people with mental health and drug problems out of jail or the emergency room.
“It will be a huge benefit to our law enforcement agencies to be able to bring people here instead of to jail so they don’t have to experience the life-changing things that come with a prison sentence,” Boesen said. “They need help, not a prison sentence.”
The facility has faced opposition from some neighbors, who say they were not consulted about the choice of location and are concerned about the impact the center will have on the neighborhood.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
