Understanding the Sobering Center

Founded in 2018, the Sobering Center was built with the intent of providing the community with a safe place to recover from intoxication in lieu of the jail or the emergency room. Clients are referred to community-based resources as needed. It has provided this service to over 7,000 individuals and continues to evolve its services to meet the needs of the Austin community. Its clients reflect the Austin/Travis County community in that it is regularly providing sobering services and brief interventions for college students, festival goers, partakers of downtown entertainment, and the chronically homeless. 

About our Speaker:

Ashlyn Branscum, LMSW, is the Development and Communication Manager at The Sobering Center. She has been in the role for 4 years. She is passionate about making sure substance use is treated as a public health issue, not a criminal one. She has had previous experience doing research on felony drug possession and working in former Council Member Greg Casar's office.