Sober living and recovery homes move closer to new, voluntary regulations

Posted June 22, 2017

Jessica Blackburn (C) and Tom Blackburn (R)

The Pennsylvania Senate has passed its bill that would create voluntary regulations for transitional homes for recovering substance users, weeks after the House adopted another version of the legislation.

Provisions in Senate Bill 446, which received unanimous approval Wednesday and now moves to the House Human Services Committee, are similar to those in House Bill 119.

Both bills would give the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) the responsibility for certifying so-called recovery and sober living houses (or homes). The agency is currently responsible for licensing and oversight of drug and alcohol treatment programs, centers and halfway houses.

Recovery houses would not be forced to obtain state certification under either bill, but state-licensed drug treatment programs would be allowed to refer clients only to certified homes. Another built-in incentive is access to state and federal funding for services, which would be available only to certified homes. 

Both bills would ban recovery home owners, operators and employees from requiring residents to sign over public assistance benefits.

The Senate bill would create a new Drug and Alcohol Recovery House Fund where money collected from certification fees and fines would be deposited and used for law enforcement.

The key difference between the bills is the House bill spells out in greater detail the regulations that homes would be expected to follow, while the Senate bill gives DDAP more freedom to write the standards, said Mike Rader, chief of staff for Sen. Tom McGarrigle, the Delaware County Republican who sponsored the bill.

“It recognized the department of drug and alcohol are the experts and they can go through the regulatory exercise for the right and wrong ways to regulate recovery houses,” Rader said.

The Senate bill does provide some guidance for the DDAP, noting that its regulations should include policies and procedures for disclosure of house rules and lease agreements upon admission, require that residents participate in treatment, self-help or other recovery supports, establish appropriate use and security of medications, property maintenance and abstinence from alcohol and illicit substances in the homes.

State Rep. Tina Davis, D-141, of Bristol Township, on Thursday said she believes the House’s version of the bill is stronger than the Senate bill because it spells out the regulations DDAP should include, which are based on the state recovery house task force’s recommendations. Davis has introduced two House bills to create voluntary recovery house regulations, but neither has come up for a floor vote.

Davis is also concerned that giving the DDAP the responsibility to draft the regulations could take more time, unless the agency uses the task force regulations as its guidance. There is also the looming potential of consolidation of the DDAP and the state’s health, human services and aging departments, a move that Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed, which Davis worries could stall efforts to enact certification standards.

“My concern is it will take forever,” Davis said. “There is really no time to waste.”

Pennsylvania has no regulations for recovery and sober living houses, a fast-growing and lucrative segment of the housing industry. The homes are supposed to provide a structured drug-free environment and support for recovering substance abusers as they rebuild their lives and maintain sobriety after treatment or prison stays. Residents are protected from discrimination under federal housing and disability laws, which makes imposing mandatory regulations difficult, state and local officials have said.

But the lack of regulation and oversight has made it difficult for those recovering from addiction, their families and local officials to learn much about recovery houses, including where they're located, who runs them and if they provide the sober and safe environment that those who treat substance abusers say is critical to lasting sobriety.

At least 122 confirmed recovery houses were operating in Bucks County last year, according to an analysis by this news organization. More than three-quarters of them were in Bristol Township, where they have faced intense public scrutiny from residents who complained some homes are neighborhood nuisances.

Last month, Bucks County detectives charged a 25-year-old man with selling drugs in a Middletown recovery house where he was placed after he was released from Bucks County prison. The charges came after two other house residents survived overdoses of heroin mixed with fentanyl and other residents claimed they bought drugs from the man.

Buckingham resident Jessica Schieber Blackburn's 29-year-old daughter Victoria Exner died in November 2015 of a cocaine overdose in a Bristol Township recovery home owned and operated by a real estate company.

Schieber Blackburn said she is "elated we've gotten this far (with recovery house legislation) in such a short amount of time. I'm very, very pleased. This is the best news."

But she has concerns about the Senate bill, specifically that it would allow homes to maintain certifications for two years.

“I’d like to see inspections more often,” she said. “Things can change an awful lot in a short period of time. I think it would be smarter to have annual inspections."

She also believes regulations should make sure that anyone involved in operating recovery homes has a working knowledge of substance dependence and its behaviors to best serve the residents.

“The whole thing, for me, is they have to have knowledge of addiction, how the mind of the addict works,” she said. “They have to be on top of it 24/7.”

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com; Twitter: @JoCiavaglia

 

Just the Fact on Senate Bill 446

Highlights of Senate Bill 446

Authorizes the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Program (DDAP) to certify or license drug alcohol recovery houses as defined by department guidelines, which shall adhere to National Alliance for Recovery Residences standards.

Only licensed or certified drug and alcohol recovery houses shall receive referrals from state-funded facilities or state agencies, and are eligible to receive state funding.

Allows the DDAP to establish regulations for the licensure and certification of drug and alcohol recovery houses to ensure a safe environment for residents including the following policies and procedures:

• Disclosure of recovery house rules, residency requirements and lease agreements to residents upon admission.

• Management of all funds received and expended by the recovery house.

• Safety and protection of residents.

• Requiring resident participation in treatment, self-help groups or other recovery supports.

• Requiring abstinence from alcohol and other illicit drugs.

• Requiring appropriate use of security and medication.

• Maintenance of the property.

The licensure or certification will last for a period of two years.

What about existing sober living and recovery houses?

Existing recovery houses may be deemed licensed or certified following an inspection and the completion of proper documentation to DDAP that is in compliance with the regulations. 

DDAP will be required to create and maintain a publicly accessible registry on its website of licensed or certified drug and alcohol recovery houses.

DDAP will establish a fee to be paid by the drug and recovery houses to carry out the provisions in law.

A person that has failed to attain or maintain licensure or certification of a drug and alcohol house shall pay a fine of $1,000 for each violation.  All fines and fees will be deposited into a newly established Drug and Alcohol Recovery House Fund; the money will be deposited to be used for the enforcement.

Source: Sen. Tom McGarrigle