Safe Refuge Formerly SA Foundation of Long Beach

Safe Refuge occupies a specific and important role in the Long Beach recovery landscape: it is not a single-service stop but a structured continuum that can carry someone from residential treatment through outpatient programming and into sober living. That kind of organizational continuity is meaningful for people who have experienced the disorientation of transitioning between unconnected programs — different staff, different expectations, different physical locations — at one of the most vulnerable points in their lives.

Located at 3111 East 7th Street in Long Beach and serving individuals across Southern California, the center operates 24 hours a day and holds CARF accreditation alongside licensure from California's Department of Health Care Services for both its residential and outpatient services. These are not marketing claims — they are documented, state-issued certifications that reflect a measurable standard of operational accountability.

Safe Refuge's three levels of care — residential treatment, outpatient program, and sober living — represent distinct but connected phases of the recovery process. Residential treatment provides the intensive, immersive structure that early recovery often demands. The outpatient program allows individuals to continue their recovery work while beginning to re-engage with daily life. Sober living extends that support into a peer-based residential environment oriented around sustained sobriety.

For individuals and families evaluating addiction treatment options in Long Beach or Southern California, this continuum matters because relapse risk does not end when residential treatment does. A recovery center that maintains its relationship with clients across multiple stages of care offers something that single-level programs cannot: familiarity, consistency, and a structure that evolves alongside the person in recovery.

Safe Refuge serves men and women, including underserved clients and individuals managing co-occurring mental health and addiction issues. Co-occurring disorders — where a mental health condition and substance use disorder exist alongside each other — require treatment that addresses both, and Safe Refuge's confirmed conditions treated include this population explicitly rather than as an afterthought.

The center's funding structure is also worth understanding for those concerned about cost. Safe Refuge accepts government grants, private foundation funding, fee-for-service contracts, and private donations. This mix of funding sources reflects a mission-oriented model that prioritizes access alongside clinical care — a distinction that matters for underserved individuals who might otherwise find residential or sober living options financially out of reach in the Southern California market.

CARF — the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities — is an independent, international accrediting body that evaluates rehabilitation and addiction treatment programs against defined quality standards. Safe Refuge holds CARF accreditation, which means the center has undergone an external review of its programs, practices, and outcomes processes. For someone choosing a recovery center or sober living environment for themselves or a family member, accreditation provides a layer of third-party accountability that self-reported claims cannot.

Alongside CARF accreditation, Safe Refuge carries state licensure from the California Department of Health Care Services for both its residential program and its outpatient certification — two separate credentials that cover two distinct levels of care. Together, these credentials offer families and individuals a documented foundation for trust when evaluating addiction treatment options in Long Beach and Southern California.