How The Program Works

• Individuals with addictions can contact the Sheriff’s Office through self-referral, social referral or officer interaction
• Once contact is made, the person requesting assistance declares they are addicted and request assistance
• Participants will not be charged with drugs or paraphernalia found in their possession if socially or self-referred. Participants are not asked where the drugs came from during these encounters. Those encountered by law enforcement while in the criminal element are subject to arrest, however the arrest does not disqualify them from Anchor assistance.
• The individual will be put in immediate contact with an Anchor coordinator, who will respond and do an assessment.
• The coordinator will contact RHA Mobile Crisis or a like entity to start the process of finding availability for detox facilities.
• If the individual needs medical treatment, the coordinator will transport them to the local ER to be checked out.
• During this process the Anchor Coordinator will be working to find the individual with a treatment option, first seeking inpatient, comprehensive outpatient or intensive outpatient.
• The Anchor coordinator will be working with the volunteer group to provide transportation to and from the ER, Detox and Treatment as needed.
• The Initiative will strive to keep the cost for these individuals as low as possible, paying for the transportation, Detox (if necessary) and initial entrance fees to treatment providers (if necessary)

An Anchor Initiative team member can be reached at 910-363-7880 or by calling 911. If you know someone who is suffering from addiction, we ask that you please pass along this information.

Learn more at Anchor Initiative | Brunswick County Sheriff's Office (brunswicksheriff.com)

Christian Recovery Centers Inc.

The Healing Place

Coastal Horizons

Brunswick County Sheriff's Office and partners continued communications and public awareness efforts of the program to increase utilization of this pre-arrest diversion program. The program began in 2018, data is still being analyzed and will be updated soon which will provide a baseline and trends of the performance measures.