SACRAMENTO – On Tuesday, California State Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva’s (D – Orange County) Assembly Bill (AB) 572, passed out of the Assembly Health Committee. The legislation will give the County of Orange and its cities enforcement resources to monitor sober living facilities. This measure has been sponsored by the Association of California Cities – Orange County (ACC-OC) in response to the overwhelmingly disproportionate amount of unmonitored sober living residences in the region.
Sober living homes and facilities are meant to provide a sober and safe environment for those recovering from Alcohol or Other Drug (AOD) dependency in residential settings. However, there are very few regulatory mechanisms available for cities to ensure that the homes within their jurisdictions are functioning properly. This has spurred a proliferation of noncompliant sober living residences with challenges ranging from public safety issues, unregulated patient care, and in some cases, facility misconduct.
“AB 572 would create a voluntary pilot program for cities in Orange County to fund and house a DHCS Complaint Analyst within their city,” said the bill’s author, Assemblywoman Quirk-Silva. “It would be an added resource for cities, helping them to enforce state and local regulations, and provide patients with better care and higher rehabilitation outcomes. We look forward to working with the County and all stakeholders as this bill advances.”
The DHCS is the only entity that has the authority to enforce sober living facility regulations, and inspect noncompliant residences when a complaint arises. However, according to DHCS, there are only 16 Investigative Complaint Analysts that handle the entirety of the State’s noncompliant sober living facility investigations. California has nearly 2,000 licensed facilities and countless unlicensed homes – an alarming 15% of those homes are saturated in Orange County. Unfortunately, the Complaint Analysts are all located in Sacramento, causing a backlog in complaint processes, investigation response, and general monitoring.
“Unfortunately, because of bad actors in the industry, residential treatment facilities have a long history of difficulties in cities across the state. When a city receives a complaint or concern by a resident or a patient against a sober living facility, often times, a city’s only recourse may be to file a complaint with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS),” said Heather Stratman ACC-OC, CEO.
AB 572 was introduced in February, and will now be moving to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. To learn more about this bill, visit the Assemblywoman’s website.
Fran Sdrao should nueter Greg Diamond sooner rather than later.
Greg’s been at odds with every chair the party’s had. At some point, you’d think he’d realize maybe the problem isn’t with them but him.
Greg has cut and pasted this thread. You can’t neuter someone who has no balls to begin with.
Thanks for sharing. Greg seems to think this is a blog affiliated with the DPOC. It is not. I am the communications chair for the party and my work for the party involved other people and has nothing to do with the commentary on the blog. I generally allow most comments and both Diamond and Vern Nelson are on moderation for comments simply because almost every comment from both of them has a personal insult. I’ve allowed it for years, am I’m done with it.
For a prolix lawyer with a degree from Columbia, I’m surprised Greg didn’t know one of the definitions of “neuter,” is to “render ineffective; deprive of vigor or force.” That’s how I read the comment about neutering Greg…but if he prefers the castration definition, so be it.
I don’t think Fran reads the blogs But Greg is someone the DCCC ought to avoid like the plague
I am NOT crazy, I am NOT crazy, I am NOT crazy. I am Not, I am Not, I am Not.
As long as I keep telling myself that………….
Uhoh. The voices are back. Better write a blog post……
I’m writing this from an iPad at a Verizon store because I don’t want Greg Diamond to know my IP address. He’s a bully. I have left several comments critical of him on Hus blog and they are never published. They cannot tolerate criticism and if you criticize, he wants to out the identity of the Commenter. He is a jerk