Free Addiction Help in San Antonio: Where to Start, Free Detox, and How to Help Someone Who Is Homeless

Free addiction help in San Antonio exists, and most of it runs through one public agency: The Center for Health Care Services, Bexar County’s local mental health and substance use authority. It runs the state’s front door for treatment, a 24-hour helpline, and its own detox program. This page explains where to start, what is free or charged on a sliding scale, how to help someone who is living on the street, and where a private detox center like Briarwood fits in.

Yes. The Center for Health Care Services runs a residential detox program at The Restoration Center, 210-246-1360, and says no one is denied services because they cannot pay.

The center’s charges are set on a sliding fee schedule based on household size and income. It also says it does not turn people away because they are covered by Medicaid, Medicare or CHIP. That makes it the main option for someone with no insurance or with Medicaid, who would otherwise struggle to find a detox bed.

The same building runs other services that matter after detox:

Waiting lists and eligibility change, so call ahead. OSAR can tell you where a bed is open.

Source: The Center for Health Care Services, home page and Program Directory.

Carry naloxone. It reverses an opioid overdose, and since 2023 the nasal spray has been sold without a prescription, so anyone can buy it at a pharmacy.

Fentanyl turns up in street drugs and in counterfeit pills made to look like prescription medicine. The DEA seized more than 47 million fentanyl-laced fake pills in 2025, and says two milligrams can be a deadly dose. Someone who has stopped using for a while, after jail, a hospital stay or detox, is at the highest risk. Their tolerance has dropped, and a dose they once handled can now kill.

If you find someone not breathing, call 911, give naloxone, and stay with them. A second dose may be needed. The fentanyl detox page explains the treatment options, including medication.

Source: FDA Approves First Over-the-Counter Naloxone Nasal Spray, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, March 29, 2023; One Pill Can Kill, Drug Enforcement Administration.

If you have private insurance through an employer or the marketplace, TRICARE or VA benefits, private detox centers become an option too. Briarwood is one of them.

Briarwood runs outpatient detox in San Antonio, at 6707 W Hausman Rd. It means scheduled medical visits with no overnight stay, and it fits people whose withdrawal is expected to be mild or moderate. The clinic is open Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 10:00pm, and admissions answers 24 hours a day, in English and Spanish. For care through the night, Briarwood runs inpatient detox in Austin and Houston.

Briarwood does not accept Medicaid or Medicare, and it is not free. For someone with no insurance or with Medicaid, The Center for Health Care Services is the better first call. A free benefit check takes about two minutes and tells you what your plan covers.

The 24-hour detox in San Antonio page explains what is open at night. The San Antonio intensive outpatient program is the usual next step after outpatient detox.