Get help without leaving the job, or letting it find out.
Virtual treatment for alcohol, drugs, and the trauma underneath, built for people who work shifts and cannot disappear for thirty days. Your department is not notified. Your records carry the extra federal protection of 42 CFR Part 2. The clinicians have worked with fire, EMS, and law enforcement before, so you are not explaining the job from scratch.
First responders carry rates of trauma and substance use far above the general population, and they wait longer to ask for help because of stigma and a real fear for their career. Most do not want to be seen walking into a building, take a thirty-day leave, or put anything through HR. Shift is built so the version of care that actually fits a shift worker exists. Virtual, confidential, around the rotation, with people who understand the work.
- PTSD prevalence ranges: Bicycle Health; Ruderman Family Foundation White Paper.
- Alcohol misuse ranges: Addiction Center; Nova Recovery Center.
- Co-occurring substance use with a mental health condition: SB Treatment first responder guide.
The first question is always the same. Who finds out?
Here is the honest answer, side by side. Treatment is between you and your clinician. We do not contact a department, a hall, or a chain of command. There are narrow legal limits, and we spell those out below rather than pretend they do not exist.
- No notification to your chief, captain, or supervisor.
- No report to HR or your union unless you ask for one in writing.
- No facility to walk into. You attend from home, off shift, on your own screen.
- No name on a building, no department vehicle in a parking lot.
- Substance use records protected under 42 CFR Part 2, a stronger federal shield than HIPAA alone.4
- A confidential assessment scheduled around your rotation, by phone or video.
- Court-ready or fitness-for-duty documentation only if you request it, and only with your written consent.
- Clinicians who have worked with first responders and do not need the job explained.
- 42 CFR Part 2 governs the confidentiality of substance use disorder treatment records and limits disclosure without written consent. Narrow exceptions exist (a valid court order following Part 2 procedures, a medical emergency, and mandated reporting of imminent harm). See the Notice of Privacy Practices and the confidentiality FAQ available from your peer support contact.
Care that fits a 24/72, a 4/3, or mandatory overtime.
Three steps from your first call to a schedule that does not cost you the job.
Reach out privately
Call the line, or use the benefit check below. You can also be connected by a peer support team member, EAP coordinator, chaplain, or union officer. Nothing is filed through HR.
Confidential assessment
An ASAM Criteria assessment by phone or video, scheduled around your shift. We verify your benefits without contacting your department, and tell you the real out-of-pocket number before anything starts.
Virtual IOP, on your schedule
Evening intensive outpatient cohorts so you stay on or near duty. PHP-intensity hours by authorization for members on light duty or medical leave. Ambulatory withdrawal management for low-risk alcohol or opioid withdrawal when clinically appropriate.
The version that does not show up in a brochure.
We treat substance use and the trauma underneath it together, by one team, because for most first responders they are the same problem wearing two faces.
Alcohol use disorder
The most common, and the most normalized. The two or three after shift that became the only way to come down and sleep.
Opioids after an injury
A line-of-duty back, knee, or shoulder, a legitimate prescription, and a dependence that outlived the injury.
Stimulants and the overtime grind
What it takes to cover the hours, stay sharp on a double, and keep the side work going. Until it stops working.
Trauma and co-occurring PTSD
The calls that do not leave. Integrated, PTSD-aware care with EMDR and CPT available when clinically indicated, alongside the substance use work.
Two real ways this gets paid for.
Your health plan, out of network
We are out of network with the commercial carriers, and in-network credentialing is in progress. Many public-safety plans are self-funded PPOs that carry real out-of-network behavioral health benefits. The Insurance and Benefits Trust of PORAC, for example, runs an 80/20 PPO administered through Anthem Blue Cross that pays out of network.5 We verify your specific benefit and give you the real number before you start.
Workers compensation, for job trauma
California makes PTSD a presumptive workplace injury for firefighters and many peace officers under Labor Code 3212.15, which can open a workers compensation path for trauma-driven care alongside your health plan.6 If that fits your situation, we will walk through it.
Honest about cost
We do not tell you treatment is free, and we do not waive your cost share. We verify your out-of-network benefits, give you the real number, and if cost is a genuine barrier we talk it through case by case.
No strings, no kickbacks
We do not pay anyone to send you here, and we do not accept payment to send you anywhere. Who you choose for care is your decision and your clinician's, and no one else's.
- PORAC Insurance and Benefits Trust, self-funded 80/20 PPO administered by Anthem Blue Cross: ibtofporac.org. Benefits vary by plan and by member. Verify your own plan before relying on any coverage figure.
- California Labor Code 3212.15, PTSD presumption for firefighters and peace officers: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Eligibility and qualifying conditions are set by statute and your employer's workers compensation process.
Peer support, EAP, a chaplain, or a union officer?
You can connect a brother or sister to a confidential conversation without anything being filed through their department. We respond within one business hour, and we never need a member's name to talk through what care looks like first.
Refer a member confidentially
The partner page for peer support teams, EAP, chaplains, and union and department staff, with the script, the confidentiality answers, and a no-identifiers referral form.
Open the partner pageBook a department wellness webinar
A 30-minute confidential-care or alcohol-and-the-job session delivered by a Shift clinician for your hall, station, or local. No cost, no pitch on the call.
Schedule a 20-minute callCheck your benefits privately.
It takes about a minute. We verify your out-of-network or workers comp benefits, give you the real out-of-pocket number, and do a short clinical screen to confirm the right level of care. No commitment until you decide, and nothing goes to your department.
- Same-day benefit verification, no contact with your department.
- Assessment scheduled around your shift rotation.
- Records protected under 42 CFR Part 2.
Prefer to talk? Call (805) 815-6777, book an intro call, or email admin@shiftsupportnetwork.com.
Thanks. We’ve got it.
Someone from Shift Support Network will follow up shortly, privately. If it’s time-sensitive, you can reach us directly.
Call (805) 815-6777If you or someone you’re with is in immediate danger, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. Shift Support Network is an outpatient program and is not an emergency service. Service area is California. We are out of network with all commercial carriers; in-network credentialing is in progress. We do not provide residential, inpatient, or medically managed withdrawal services.