Improve Oversight and Enforcement of Recovery Housing
What's not to like about the Department of Health Care Services' oversight of licensed houses and certified treatment centers? How about people die, and they don't immediately shut down the house where someone died or the rest of the houses operated by the same business? What about people die in Recovery Residences, owned and/or operated by state certified Treatment Centers, and DHCS doesn't investigate at all? What about an inspection of licensed houses every two years? What about no surveillance of events that require the police or emergency medical services, so that bad operators can be detected before they kill someone? What about complaints that are filed and lost or are investigated months later? What about the complaint website going down and no one noticing for months? What about no instructions for social distancing and Covid? What about preventing addicts from Covid spiking states coming to California for addiction treatment?
According to the Orange County Register, "There are just 16 inspectors, working in an office in Sacramento, to monitor nearly 2000 rehab centers in California" ("How some Southern California drug rehab centers exploit addiction"). The room for improvement is staggering. Advocates for Responsible Treatment supports any and all improvements to regulation, oversight, accountability and enforcement.
2021 - SB 349 Umberg - California Ethical Treatment for Persons with Addiction Act
Requires treatment provider provide a patient bill of rights. Requires treatment providers to maintain records fo referrals to/from a recovery residence. Prohibits false advertising. Clarifies definitions of kickbacks and brokering. Civil fine of up to $20,000 for violations.
2020 - AB 2265 Quirk-Silva - Mental Health Services Act (Funding)
Requires the county to report the number of people assessed for both mental health disorders and substance use disorders and the number assessed for both that were ultimately determined to only have a substance use disorder.
2020 - SB 1086 Umberg - California Ethical Treatment for Persons with Addiction Act
Enables DA’s to prosecute for violations. Creates Client Bill of Rights. Prohibitions against false marketing. Requires facilities track referrals. Prohibits kick-backs. Civil penalties of up to $20k.
2020 - SB 1144 Bates
Requires DHCS to refer substantiated claims against unlicensed Recovery Residences to other enforcement agencies.
2020 - SB 1172 Bates
Requires posting of licensing and certification information of treatment houses and programs on websites, which would allow clients to distinguish between licensed and unlicensed programs.
2019 - AB 136 Quirk-Silva
For the year 2021, would establish a pilot Office of Ombudsperson to collaborate with counties on investigations of treatment centers, licensed and unlicensed houses. This bill feels like a bare minimum ask, but we have to give Quirk-Silva credit for trying to get additional resources when state officials in Sacramento seem to be fighting her tooth and nail
2019 - AB 682 Eggman (Allen & Bloom)
Would attempt to count beds and qualities of those beds available for mental health and substance use disorder in the state. Needs to be updated to include beds in recovery residences, but gets at the heart of an important problem: California doesn’t count its beds, and so people that need them can’t find them and the state doesn’t know how many go to out-of-staters.
2019 - AB 919 Petrie-Norris
Requires DHCS develop a viable enforcement program around investigation of patient brokering.
2018 - AB 572 Quirk-Silva, originally introduced in 2017
Until 12/19, DHCS assigns a single investigator to the City of Costa Mesa in a year-long pilot program, and Costa Mesa pays for it with results reported back to the legislature.
According to the Orange County Register, "There are just 16 inspectors, working in an office in Sacramento, to monitor nearly 2000 rehab centers in California" ("How some Southern California drug rehab centers exploit addiction"). The room for improvement is staggering. Advocates for Responsible Treatment supports any and all improvements to regulation, oversight, accountability and enforcement.
2021 - SB 349 Umberg - California Ethical Treatment for Persons with Addiction Act
Requires treatment provider provide a patient bill of rights. Requires treatment providers to maintain records fo referrals to/from a recovery residence. Prohibits false advertising. Clarifies definitions of kickbacks and brokering. Civil fine of up to $20,000 for violations.
2020 - AB 2265 Quirk-Silva - Mental Health Services Act (Funding)
Requires the county to report the number of people assessed for both mental health disorders and substance use disorders and the number assessed for both that were ultimately determined to only have a substance use disorder.
2020 - SB 1086 Umberg - California Ethical Treatment for Persons with Addiction Act
Enables DA’s to prosecute for violations. Creates Client Bill of Rights. Prohibitions against false marketing. Requires facilities track referrals. Prohibits kick-backs. Civil penalties of up to $20k.
2020 - SB 1144 Bates
Requires DHCS to refer substantiated claims against unlicensed Recovery Residences to other enforcement agencies.
2020 - SB 1172 Bates
Requires posting of licensing and certification information of treatment houses and programs on websites, which would allow clients to distinguish between licensed and unlicensed programs.
2019 - AB 136 Quirk-Silva
For the year 2021, would establish a pilot Office of Ombudsperson to collaborate with counties on investigations of treatment centers, licensed and unlicensed houses. This bill feels like a bare minimum ask, but we have to give Quirk-Silva credit for trying to get additional resources when state officials in Sacramento seem to be fighting her tooth and nail
2019 - AB 682 Eggman (Allen & Bloom)
Would attempt to count beds and qualities of those beds available for mental health and substance use disorder in the state. Needs to be updated to include beds in recovery residences, but gets at the heart of an important problem: California doesn’t count its beds, and so people that need them can’t find them and the state doesn’t know how many go to out-of-staters.
2019 - AB 919 Petrie-Norris
Requires DHCS develop a viable enforcement program around investigation of patient brokering.
2018 - AB 572 Quirk-Silva, originally introduced in 2017
Until 12/19, DHCS assigns a single investigator to the City of Costa Mesa in a year-long pilot program, and Costa Mesa pays for it with results reported back to the legislature.