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Free Detox Centers Near Me – How To Recover Without Paying

Last Updated: November 19, 2021

Authored by Isaak Stotts, LP

Reviewed by Michael Espelin APRN

A detox center is a facility that helps people with drug or alcohol addiction towards recovery. Patients are monitored and treated while their bodies remove harmful substances.

Quitting cold turkey can be dangerous due to the withdrawal symptoms experienced as the body reacts to the absence of the drug, some of which can be severe. As a result, it is best to undergo a medical detoxification program under supervision.

Free detox centers allow the less privileged to access their services with little or no cost. It can help those who want to recover but do not have the financial capacity to start a program. This article will discuss detox centers near me and low-cost centers as well.

Are There Free Detox Centers?

Free detox centers are facilities that provide medical detoxification services for patients at no cost. These are typically funded by the state or a religious organization. Not every state has a completely free detox center, but all states have low-cost centers.

For many demographics, such as the homeless or people with low-income, finding such detox centers near me is the only option for a substance abuse treatment program. That is why it is essential and good that there are several accessible centers all across the country.

Even Though There Are Long Waiting Lists, Certain People Who Have Priority When It Comes to Free Detoxification Services:

  • Intravenous addicts who are pregnant
  • Intravenous addicts in general
  • Women addicts with small children

Top 7 Free Detox Centers

The Grove Counseling Center (Winter Springs, FL)

Grove Counseling Center is an inpatient center that provides supervised medical detoxification for patients with substance abuse disorders. They offer financial assistance and a sliding fee scale for payment, allowing low-income patients to pay significantly less.

Samaritan Daytop Village Inc. (Queens, NY)

Daytop Village provides drug and alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation for both inpatients and outpatients, though with programs to treat mental health conditions simultaneously. They offer a sliding fee scale that makes payment accessible to all income groups.

Gateway Rehabilitation Center (Aliquippa, PA)

Located in Pennsylvania, Gateway Rehabilitation Center is an inpatient treatment center for the treatment of drug and alcohol addictions. They provide treatment for adolescents and adults and accept several forms of payment, including Medicaid, private, and state-funded insurance.

Montana Chemical Dependency Center (Butte, MT)

The Montana Chemical Dependency Center is an alcohol and drug abuse treatment center that provides inpatient treatment for addiction. They accept a wide array of payment options, with a sliding fee scale, financial assistance, and even Access to Recovery vouchers.

Four Winds Recovery Center (Farmington, NM)

The Four Winds Recovery Center provides both outpatient and inpatient services for patients who deal with substance use disorders and need medical detoxification to assist in recovery. This center makes treatment accessible with their income-based sliding fee scale.

Whatcom Community Detox (Bellingham, WA)

Whatcom Community Detox is based in Washington, and they provide a medical detoxification program for those with alcohol or drug addictions. It is an inpatient facility that provides financial assistance for low-income individuals as well as accepting Medicaid.

Genesis Medical Center (Davenport, IA)

Located in Davenport, IA, Genesis Detoxification Center is an inpatient center for treating substance addiction and other mental health conditions. They provide medical detoxification alongside CBT, group therapy, and more. There are numerous payment options, including County and State funding.

Types Of Detox Centers

Detoxification is the process of allowing the body to get rid of drugs or alcohol while medical personnel manage withdrawal symptoms and ensure the safety of the patient. It is an essential first step towards recovery. However, the severity and duration of substance use disorders vary, and every recovering addict has different treatment needs. In addition, many people have co-occurring mental health disorders that complicate detoxification treatment. It is crucial to seek out a professional treatment center to complete the process safely and comfortably.

Here Are the Types of Detox Facilities That Cater to Different Types of Patients:

Outpatient (Non-Residential)

Outpatient detox centers are freestanding substance abuse treatment facilities or physicians’ offices where recovering addicts receive treatment daily during a scheduled appointment and return to their homes after that.

Intensive Outpatient Detoxification

As the name suggests, this is more intensive detoxification than baseline outpatient treatment. During this type of detoxification, the patient is monitored closely by medical personnel for several hours during an appointment to ensure there are no side effects or need for further medical care.

Inpatient (Residential)

Inpatient facilities are usually located at specialized substance abuse treatment centers where patients reside for the duration of the detoxification. An inpatient facility will offer continuous support for patients as they cleanse from drug or alcohol intoxication. Patients are supported appropriately and monitored 24/7 by medical professionals.

Hospital Inpatient Centers

These are general or psychiatric hospitals that conduct medically managed detoxification with the help of medications like lorazepam for alcohol withdrawal. Patients receive 24-hour supervision and timely and appropriate medical care for severe withdrawal symptoms or any complications.

Rapid Detoxification Facilities

Rapid detox centers use medications such as sedatives to speed up the recovery process and make the program as painless as possible. Some centers perform ultra-rapid detoxification to flush the drug out of the system and significantly reduce discomfort.

Doctor and nurse in the hospital corridor.

The choice of a detoxification facility depends on the needs of the individual. If a recovering addict is an adult with work and family responsibilities and a mild to moderate addiction, outpatient detoxification may be their best bet. Individuals with severe, longstanding addiction and complicating health conditions may need close medical supervision offered by inpatient detoxification programs in the hospital setting. Local medical detox centers around the country provide different services to meet the needs of every type of recovering addict.

Does Health Insurance Cover Addiction Treatment?

In some cases, health insurance covers one’s addiction treatment entirely; however, there might be instances in which the patient is required to cover partial treatment expenses.

The best way to determine whether or not one’s payments are taken care of by the insurance is to contact the provider.

Does My Insurance Cover Addiction Treatment? Read More About Your Health Insurance Options:

State-Funded Detox Centers

Depending on the income, whether one has health insurance or not, and the state one lives in, state-funded detox centers can be free of charge or may require to cover partial expenses. Patients with no regular income, no health insurance, or family members willing to cover the costs typically receive free treatment.

One of the best things a person seeking free treatment can do is visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website and find detox centers near me that offer free services.

In some instances, even if the detoxification is “free,” hospitalization and medications may not be included in the initial package, which means the patient will be charged.

Furthermore, bear in mind that these are highly sought-after facilities, which means there is usually a waiting list—one might have to wait for months to enter one of these programs. Additionally, make sure to have all the documents needed, such as proof that one does not receive any income and evidence of the addiction. One may also have to be a permanent resident of the state where the center is based.

Religion or Faith-Based Detox Centers

Many religion-based organizations and programs offer free services, but only a few of them provide medically supervised detoxification. One of them is the Salvation Army. Furthermore, most organizations require users to undergo a detox process before they join the rehabilitation program.

People sit close in circle, support group meeting.

Religion-based organizations help people integrate their faith in substance abuse rehabilitation and create a permanent support group after detoxification. For the Orthodox Jewish, there is a Chabad movement recovery program in California and JACS in New York.

The downside is that most of these groups offer only 12-step based programs but no detoxification services.

Sliding Scale Or Payment Assistance For Detoxification

Treatment options for drug addiction may include a sliding fee scale, payment assistance, or completely free. To maintain equity, many detox treatment centers use these payment types to provide optimum addiction treatment to those suffering from drug and alcohol addiction.

Sliding scale refers to a payment structure that is based on the incomes of the patient. It considers their ability to afford addiction treatment and provides a reasonable system to enable the patient to access treatment and rehabilitation. A sliding scale structure may consider aspects such as income, monthly expenditure, size of family, proposed duration of treatment, program type, and therapies to be received. Outpatient drug rehabilitation services are also considered depending on proximity.

Payment assistance – there are also numerous public assistance detox programs available. These programs offer aids in the form of health grants to those who are found to be eligible. These financial aids are funded by the federal or state government. This funding may vary across regions and is also accessible using health insurance.

It Can Be Specific for the Area of Residence and Covers the Following Groups of People:

  • Low-income earners
  • Pregnant women
  • Individuals such as veterans and aged citizens
  • People living with disabilities

Disadvantages of Free Detoxification

Free detoxification is one of the significant advancements in healthcare. Free programs have enabled more and more low-income earners to get the necessary addiction treatment they need. There are many free opiate detox facilities in most of the states in the US.

Some of the best drug rehabs in the USA may or may not have free services of even sliding scale structure, as many of them are luxurious and quite expensive. However, despite its shortcomings, free drug and alcohol detox facilities are always open to new addiction cases.

A free drug and alcohol detoxification clinic usually has too many intakes frequently, whether as inpatients or outpatients; for this reason, people are generally put on a waiting list for an extended period before a spot can be secured for treatment. It may not be the best for emergency cases such as waiting for detox while pregnant. Patients may develop complications while on a waiting list for drug detoxification.

Here Are Some Drawbacks of These Free Addiction Centers:

  • Most free programs do not offer prescription drug detox pills
  • Some patients who are in more critical situations have to spend time on a waiting list
  • Often the plans do not run for the full number of days due to the haste to bring in new critical cases. It could take a toll on the recovery of the patient
  • Free services often come with a certain amount of inadequacies such as lack of specific types of treatment, shortage of drugs, insufficient staff, lack of space, and comfort

The question of how to detoxify from opiates if the waiting list is extensive yet remains uncertain.

How to detox from drugs at home? There is the option of performing holistic drug detox at home, though it is not without its risks to the health. It cannot be as safe as when supervised in a professional center, but there are precautions that can be taken to perform detox at home as safely as possible.

Finding Suitable Free Detox Centers Near Me

What type of detox center is best? There’s no right answer to this question.

The Choice of a Detoxification Facility Depends on Several Factors, Such As:

  • Type, duration, and severity of the addiction
  • Age and gender of the patient
  • Cost of treatment and insurance acceptance
  • Inpatient versus outpatient
  • Co-occurring medical conditions and need for specialized care

To choose the most suitable detox center, ask the following questions:

Does the Detoxification Center Treat the Required Type of Addiction?

Detoxification for each type of substance varies. For example, detox from alcohol, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, or ecstasy is not the same. For instance, opiate detox centers specialize in treating people with an addiction to prescription pain medications. The staff at these centers have specialized knowledge and experience in caring for such individuals to ensure the detoxification is as comfortable as possible.

Is the Facility Accredited?

State accreditation bodies ensure that qualified staff provides safe, effective treatment at detox facilities. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is an excellent resource to find accredited facilities offering drug and alcohol detoxification programs. Obtaining treatment at an unaccredited center can prove dangerous as these facilities may not adhere to the best practices and established standards of care.

How Well Are the Staff Qualified?

A higher staff-to-patient ratio means there is more staff available to care for patients. Some states limit how many patients can be cared for at the facility, depending on the number of staff. The qualifications of the nurses, psychologists, physicians, and counselors at the detox center are also an important consideration. Fully qualified staff with specialization in detoxification and effective substance abuse treatment can provide high-quality care.

Does the Detox Center Offer Individualized Treatment?

Every recovering addict has varying needs. The severity of the addiction and underlying health problems also vary from person to person. Individualized plans offer a better chance of success rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to detoxification.

Comprehensive detox planning includes not only the physical withdrawal from drugs or alcohol but also medical, psychological, social, and legal concerns.

Does the Facility Offer Medication-Assisted Detoxification? Are the Therapies Offered Scientifically Based?

Many detoxification centers prescribe medications to help make the withdrawal from alcohol and drugs less distressful. However, unsupervised withdrawal can be dangerous or even fatal. Reputed detox centers offer specific treatments that have been proven effective based on research. Detoxification facilities that offer experimental therapies for substance abuse may not be the safest or the most effective.

How to Find Free Detox Facilities Near You

For those who are dealing with substance addiction and can’t handle paying for the service all on their own, a free detox center can provide help for them.

There Are Several Ways to Find Free Detox Centers Near Me, Which Include:

  • Ask a medical doctor for a reference to a center
  • Research online
  • Enquire at your local government office
  • Ask from relatives and friends
  • Ask from people at community outreach programs

However, it is essential to note that not all free detox centers may offer the services and programs you are looking for. It is necessary to inquire more about their services, such as whether they provide inpatient or outpatient treatment and treat the particular substance that one may abuse.

Substance addiction should not be left untreated for too long, as the more time an individual spends abusing a drug or alcohol, the larger the impact it will have on their lives and health. Finding free detox centers near me makes it possible to get treatment and help regardless of income level.

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Page Sources

  1. Friedmann, P. D., Lemon, S. C., Stein, M. D., & D'Aunno, T. A. (2003). Accessibility of addiction treatment: results from a national survey of outpatient substance abuse treatment organizations. Health services research, 38(3), 887–903. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360921/
  2. Spear S. E. (2014). Reducing readmissions to detoxification: an interorganizational network perspective. Drug and alcohol dependence, 137, 76–82. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4029096/
  3. Neff, J. A., Shorkey, C. T., & Windsor, L. C. (2006). Contrasting faith-based and traditional substance abuse treatment programs. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 30(1), 49–61. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16377452/
  4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, About Faith-based and Community Initiatives, 2020, https://www.samhsa.gov/faith-based-initiatives/about

Published on: December 21st, 2016

Updated on: November 19th, 2021

About Author

Isaak Stotts, LP

Isaak Stotts is an in-house medical writer in AddictionResource. Isaak learned addiction psychology at Aspen University and got a Master's Degree in Arts in Psychology and Addiction Counseling. After graduation, he became a substance abuse counselor, providing individual, group, and family counseling for those who strive to achieve and maintain sobriety and recovery goals.

Medically Reviewed by

Michael Espelin APRN

8 years of nursing experience in wide variety of behavioral and addition settings that include adult inpatient and outpatient mental health services with substance use disorders, and geriatric long-term care and hospice care.  He has a particular interest in psychopharmacology, nutritional psychiatry, and alternative treatment options involving particular vitamins, dietary supplements, and administering auricular acupuncture.

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