To all the key players — parents whose kids died doing drugs in so-called recovery homes, neighbors who live beside the often problematic businesses, and many of the rehabbing residents themselves — reforming the fraud-plagued sober living industry can’t happen quickly enough.
On Thursday, Dec. 3, three Congress members introduced a bill aimed at improving the quality of care offered to recovering addicts living in sober living homes.
Dubbed “The Excellence in Recovery Housing Act,” the proposed law would require the National Academy of Sciences to study high-quality recovery housing and make recommendations for increasing its availability. It also would determine how to improve data collection about recovery, ensure that medication-assisted treatment would be available for people seeking to stay sober and explore the legal tangles that still exist on the state and local front involving recovery housing.
The bill also would push the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to work with “reputable providers” to come up with comprehensive guidelines for struggling state governments, and would provide some $57 million in grants states could use to help make quality housing a reality.
“For millions of Americans living with addiction and the millions more who love them, entering a recovery residence, or ‘sober home’, is an incredibly significant step that means hope of a life beyond addiction,” said U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, in a statement.
“But that hope can be fragile, as recovery is a delicate time requiring skilled, professional attention. That is why we must ensure that recovery housing is actually providing the safe and stable environment we expect. Sadly, I have heard too many stories of those who have lost someone while they were in recovery because the staff lacked training to recognize things like the signs of an overdose.”
While federal attention on the issue is welcome, activists who’ve been pleading for stronger regulation of the addiction treatment industry are frustrated by yet another bill that aims for guidelines rather than stringent rules, and for recommendations rather than action.
“To the extent this bill encourages all states to take responsibility for and serve their recovering populations, this could be a good bill,” said Laurie Girand of Advocates for Responsible Treatment in San Juan Capistrano.
“But when the government only focuses on the ‘good’ providers, it fails to address the whole picture,” Girand added.
“What we really need is for Congress to have the guts to say ‘the emperor has no clothes.’ This is an industry desperate for government regulation.”
To that end, state legislators are preparing to re-introduce legislation in Sacramento that would take major steps towards reform of the industry in California.
Forward
The federal bill was introduced by Reps. David Trone, D-Maryland, Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano and Chu. It builds on Chu’s earlier legislation that prompted guidelines on quality recovery residences that some critics found wanting.
This bill will help SAMHSA improve those guidelines, and provide resources for states to promote the availability of high-quality recovery residences. It has the support of a variety of large, national treatment-related groups.
State Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach, is spearheading a bipartisan group of Sacramento legislators pushing for more fundamental reform in California. She will reintroduce Jarrod’s Law, which would requiring outpatient centers, which are now completely unsupervised by the state, to be licensed and regulated by the Department of Health Care Services.
Gov. Gavin Newsom liked the big idea, but said in a veto message that “developing a new licensing scheme is a significant undertaking, and would require a significant departure from the bill as enrolled.”
Petrie-Norris is working on addressing those concerns. The bill is named to honor Wendy McEntyre ‘s son Jarrod, who in 2004 died of an overdose while in the care of a sober living home in the San Fernando Valley.
In the same spirit, state Sen. Pat Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, will reintroduce “Brandon’s Law,” which would prohibit rehabs from false advertising and marketing. It’s named for Brandon Nelson, who died at age 26 in an unlicensed home run by a company that promised a team of skilled professionals — but couldn’t even get his medications on time.
Newsom liked the big idea here, too, but vetoed the bill over concerns that the Department of Health Care Services would be asked to police recovery residences, something the agency currently doesn’t handle. Bates is working on addressing those concerns.
Bates is also pushing to re-introduce another nixed idea — a bill that would crack down on drug dealers peddling deadly fentanyl, which is responsible for a skyrocketing body count, even among children.
“Before COVID, we were planning to do a coalition, looking what each bill had achieved, what did we need to do to full refinement,” Bates said. “We’re back at that now. Let’s get some data points. Where are the hot spots? What works?
“There’s a heck of a lot of money coming into substance abuse from the public and private insurance industry,” Bates added. “Is it hitting the mark? We really need some studies, and putting money toward that would be money well-spent.”
On the federal bill, Bates and Petrie-Norris appreciate anything that brings more focus to the issues, and both want the federal government to do more.
“We’re working hard to raise standards for patient care and establish licensing for all substance use programs in California,” Petrie-Norris said.
“We’re really pleased to see the introduction the Excellence in Recovery Housing Act in Congress. We urgently need action at the state and federal level. Part of that is having higher standards for recovery homes. I’d like to see the bill go further.”
Petrie Norris suggested the federal government could help by making it harder for federal money to go to recovery facilities that don’t meet state or federal standards. Also, federal lawmakers could clarify the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act to state precisely when substance use disorder qualifies as a disability, and under which circumstances local governments can regulate recovery housing.
“The bottom line is that people are dying right now,” Petrie-Norris said. “We need to treat this as a crisis and act with urgency to put predatory homes out of business.”
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