HomeMy WebLinkAbout15 - NB-1 - Resolution Seeking CA State Legislative - 4/17/2018CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: April 17, 2018 ITEM NUMBER:
SUBJECT: CONSIDER ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION SEEKING CALIFORNIA STATE
LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT TO REGULATE RESIDENTIAL RECOVEY
FACILITIES (SOBER LIVING HOMES)
DATE: APRIL 2, 2018
FROM: CITY MANAGER/ADMINISTRATION
PRESENTATION BY: DANIEL K. BAKER, ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:DAN BAKER AT (714) 754-5156
RECOMMENDATION:
Mayor Pro Tem Mansoor requests formal City Council consideration to adopt the
attached resolution (Attachment 1) that requests support from the State of California to
provide the necessary regulatory tools to ensure local jurisdictions have adequate
means to bring balance between neighborhoods and the placement of residential
recovery facilities (Sober Living Homes).
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS:
At the February 6, 2018, City Council meeting, a resolution was presented to City
Council for formal adoption related to the National league of Cities efforts to promote
support for local authorities to certify and regulate residential recovery facilities (Sober
Living Homes).
During this discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Mansoor requested that a separate resolution
be drafted relating to the State of California’s lack of assistance and support as
communities throughout the State struggle to find a balance between single family
neighborhoods and the placement of sober living homes.
In fact, Costa Mesa is actively working with the Association of California Cities Orange
County and the office of State Assembly member Sharon Quirk-Silva’s on Assembly Bill
572 that would create a pilot program to place a state inspector in Orange County. In
addition, multiple bills over the last few legislative cycles have also been introduced with
little success.
NB-1
At the request of Mayor Pro Tem Mansoor, staff is bringing forward for City Council
consideration to adopt the attached resolution that requests more comprehensive
means from the State of California to provide the necessary regulatory tools to ensure
local jurisdictions have adequate means to bring balance between neighborhoods and
the placement of residential recovery facilities (Sober Living Homes).
The states of Florida and Arizona have experienced an influx of sober living facilities
and have implemented tools to assist their cities. Below are some key highlights from
these two other states that Mayor Pro Tem Mansoor feels are doing more to
appropriately regulate these issues than California:
Florida
1.Expands current prohibitions on referrals between licensed treatment providers andcertain recovery residences.
2.Prohibits service providers, recovery residence operators, and third parties
that provide advertising or marketing services from engaging in deceptive
marketing practices and provides criminal penalties for violations.
3.Prohibits materially false or misleading statements or information about the
identity, products, goods, services, or geographical location of a licensed
service provider made to induce a person to seek treatment with that
provider.4.Expands the items that may not be used to induce a patient referral to include any“benefit”.5.Adds patient brokering to the offenses that constitute “racketeering activities”.
6.Allows the Office of Statewide Prosecution to investigate and prosecute patient
brokering and enhances penalties for higher volumes of patient brokering.
7.Requires entities providing substance abuse marketing services to be licensed
by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) under the
Florida Telemarketing Act.
8.Creates a new provision for applications for disclosure of patient records for
individuals receiving substance abuse services in an active criminal
investigation, which authorizes disclosure without prior notice.
Arizona
1.Allows a city, town or county to adopt by ordinance health and safety
standards for structured sober living homes that comply with state and federal
fair housing laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
2.Allows the standards, if adopted, to include:
a.a written notification from all structured sober living homes that
includes:
i.the name and address of the structured sober living home; and
ii.the property owner’s name, address and contact telephone
number, or if the property is leased, a copy of the lease that
states that the property will be used as a structured sober living
home.
b.supervision requirements in the home for the residents during all hours
of operation; and
c.the establishment and maintenance of an operation plan that facilitates
the rehabilitative process, including discharge planning, and that
addresses the maintenance of the property and noise abatement
consistent with local ordinances.
3.Allows a city, town or county that adopts standards for structured sober living
homes to exclude from regulation any structured sober living home that is
subject to adequate oversight by another governmental entity or contractor.
4.Defines structured sober living home as any premises, place or building that
provides alcohol- free or drug-free housing, promotes independent living and
life skill development and provides structured activities that are directed
primarily toward recovery from substance use disorders in a supervised
setting to a group of unrelated individuals who are recovering from drug or
alcohol addiction and who are receiving outpatient behavioral health services
for substance abuse or addiction treatment while living in the home.
5.Excludes from the definition of structured sober living home a private
residence in which a related family member is required to receive outpatient
behavioral health services for substance abuse or addiction treatment as a
condition of continuing to reside in the family dwelling.
FISCAL REVIEW:
There is no fiscal impact associated with the adoption of the proposed resolution.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed the documents and approved them as to form.
CONCLUSION:
Staff is seeking Council direction.
DANIEL K. BAKER
Assistant to the City Manager
ATTACHMENTS: 1 Resolution of support for local authority to certify and regulate
residential recovery facilities (Sober Living Homes)
Attachment 1
RESOLUTION NO. 18-xx
RESOLUTION SEEKING CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT TO
CERTIFY AND REGULATE RESIDENTIAL RECOVERY FACILITIES (SOBER
LIVING HOMES)
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA DOES HEREBY RESOLVE
AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, in 2008, Congress passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction
Equity Act, which made available additional insurance benefits to people with
substance abuse disorders; and
WHEREAS, the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 authorized adults
under the age of 26 to use their parents’ insurance, required insurance providers to
cover pre- existing conditions, and guaranteed coverage despite multiple drug
relapses; and
WHEREAS, an unintended consequence of the aforementioned benefits,
stemming in large part from the opioid crisis that has overtaken our country, has
been the unplanned and rapid growth of “sober living homes”; and
WHEREAS, the State of California has done little to nothing in the way of
oversight in the sober living home industry beyond voluntary standards that are
essentially self-policed; and
WHEREAS, we are far more likely to bring about positive change at the state
level versus the federal level; and
WHEREAS, Costa Mesa has 29% of the state licensed residential drug and
alcohol facilities in Orange County, California. The following is a breakdown: 88
state licensed drug and alcohol treatment facilities in town, 18 City approved
facilities, 12 denied applications, 17 applications on appeal, and 13 applications
withdrawn from the process. 160 citations have been issued to facilities by code
enforcement staff for municipal code violations; and
WHEREAS, legitimate and well run sober living homes can be both good
neighbors and effective programs for struggling addicts. However, many sober
living homes are operating today without even minimum standards, resulting in the
warehousing of patients in substandard housing that endangers public health and
safety; and
WHEREAS, the number of sober living homes operating in Costa Mesa and
cities across the state is unknown because there is no mandatory registration at
any level of government; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has held that cities have the
right to regulate both the number of people who may reside in a single-family
dwelling unit and the manner in which a single-family dwelling is used as long as
such regulations do not unfairly discriminate or impair an individual’s rights of
privacy and association; and
WHEREAS, some sober living homes in the City of Costa Mesa have
engaged in abuse, neglect, mistreatment, fraud, and/or inadequate supervision of
the vulnerable people in recovery who populate these homes; and
WHEREAS, some sober living homes in the City of Costa Mesa have failed to
provide the supportive, family-like living environment essential to achieving and
maintaining sobriety; and
WHEREAS, some sober living homes in the City of Costa Mesa have
evicted residents into homelessness in the absence of a discharge procedure that
provides for their safety, a place to live, and fosters sobriety; and
WHEREAS, neighboring residents have expressed concerns about
exposure to second hand smoke, noise, debris, drug paraphernalia, and to the
poor conduct and lack of neighborly behavior of some residents of sober living
homes in their immediate vicinity; and
WHEREAS, in 2016 state of Florida enacted comprehensive statewide
legislation to successfully address the proliferation of unregulated sober living
homes and in 2017 the state of Arizona enacted legislation providing for direct
regulation of sober living homes that included minimum standards to be set by
local jurisdictions; and
WHEREAS, the state of Florida has taken concrete, effective steps to
combat unregulated sober living homes, which includes prohibiting deceptive
marketing practices and materially false or misleading statements or information,
expanding the items that may not be used to induce a patient, adding patient
brokering to the offenses that constitute “racketeering activities”, allowing the Office
of Statewide Prosecution to investigate and prosecute patient brokering, enhancing
penalties for higher volumes of patient brokering, requiring entities providing
substance abuse marketing services to be licensed by the Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services; and
WHEREAS, the state of Florida through its sober living home Task Force
has made 41 arrests in the past year for patient brokering and other criminal
activity within the drug treatment and sober living homes industries, and is
responsible for uncovering the “Florida Shuffle”, a system built to create recurring
relapses so that the insurance payment clock can be reset for patients that can no
longer afford to pay for their treatment; and
WHEREAS, the state of Arizona’s has also taken concrete, effective steps to
combat unregulated sober living homes, which include allowing a city, town or
county to adopt by ordinance health and safety standards for structured sober
living homes that comply with state and federal fair housing laws and the
Americans with Disabilities Act, with specific reasonable standards for the
protection of residents;
WHEREAS, the primary purpose of this resolution is to request that the
State of California Legislature enact legislation similar to Florida and Arizona
related to sober living facilities.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Costa Mesa strongly
urges that the State support both State and federal legislation that re-examines
exemptions from local regulation that have led to unintended consequences and
that recognizes and enhances local authority to limit and regulate residential
recovery facilities in areas zoned residential; and that requires sober living homes
to obtain an operating license and meet minimum consumer protection standards
to protect both the patients and the neighborhoods that support them.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this ___day of _____, 2018.
___________________________________
Sandra L. Genis, Mayor
ATTEST:
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
__________________________ __________________________________
Brenda Green, City Clerk Thomas Duarte, City Attorney
THIS PAGE IS RESERVED FOR CITY CLERK’S OFFICE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss
CITY OF COSTA MESA )
I, BRENDA GREEN, City Clerk of the City of Costa Mesa, DO HEREBY
CERTIFY that the above and foregoing is the original of Resolution No. 18-xx and
was duly passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Costa Mesa at a
regular meeting held on the ___day of _____, 2018, by the following roll call vote, to
wit:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereby set my hand and affixed the seal of
the City of Costa Mesa this ___day of _____, 2018.
___________________________
Brenda Green, City Clerk