{"id":22246,"date":"2018-08-27T12:48:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T17:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hustlehope.com\/?p=22246"},"modified":"2018-08-27T12:48:49","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T17:48:49","slug":"pennsylvania-is-getting-tighter-regulations-for-recovery-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hustlehope.com\/news\/pennsylvania-is-getting-tighter-regulations-for-recovery-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania is Getting Tighter Regulations for Recovery Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr \/>\n<p>By\u00a0<span class=\"author-wrap\"><a title=\"Posts by Grace Shallow\" href=\"https:\/\/generocity.org\/philly\/author\/gshallow\">Grace Shallow<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"byline-date\">on July 26, 2018<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h6>The reason Bristol, Pa., officials pursued recovery home ordinances for their township was simple: \u201cPeople were dying\u201d in unregulated homes, said Bristol Township Council President Craig Bowen.<\/h6>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In Philadelphia, there are many recovery homes that have little oversight. But, according to regulations passed in August 2016, Bristol recovery home owners have several boxes to check before opening a residence, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Being more than 300 feet from any other recovery home<\/li>\n<li>Certification by the Pennsylvania Association of Recovery Residences (PARR); standards are listed here<\/li>\n<li>Being a member of the Bucks County Recovery House Association (BCRHA), a PARR affiliate<\/li>\n<li>Proper zoning<\/li>\n<li>Meeting the amount of allowed clients per residence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"margin: 1.5em 0 1.25em 0;\">Impact and challenges of Bristol ordinances<\/h3>\n<p>Two years later, some troublesome homes have closed in Bristol, and more than 150 remain in operation, according to Barb Williamson, president of Way of Life Recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Williamson, a proponent of the ordinances, has eight homes in the Philadelphia area and Bristol. All of her residences are PARR-certified.<\/p>\n<p>But Bowen said he discovered implementing recovery home regulations can be a muddled process.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We knew from the get-go that it was a very gray area.&#8221;<br \/>\nCraig Bowen<\/p>\n<p>The Fair Housing Act (FHA) protects people with disabilities, including those with substance use disorder. Regulations imposed on group homes for people with disabilities that aren\u2019t applied to other residences could violate FHA, according to a 2016 statement from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in March, a California recovery home filed a lawsuit against its city, Costa Mesa. In 2014 and 2015, the city had approved ordinances that mandated recovery homes to obtain special permits in certain areas and be located no less than 650 feet apart. Bowen said he could fill \u201ca file the size of a phonebook\u201d with similar cases, leading the council to take precautions against it happening in Bristol.<\/p>\n<p>Bowen said regulations could be more effective without the restrictions imposed by the FHA. His council has done what it can, and only federal and state government has enough authority to improve the regulatory process, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe knew from the get-go that it was a very gray area,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"margin: 1.5em 0 1.25em 0;\">More statewide oversight<\/h3>\n<p>The same month Bristol passed its regulations, Gov. Tom Wolf and the General Assembly authorized the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) to oversee recovery homes. According to Senate Bill 446, homes that fail to meet DDAP\u2019s requirements won\u2019t receive federal or state funding or patient referrals from courts, impeding unlicensed homes\u2019 income and client intake. The department has until June 2020 to develop its regulations.<\/p>\n<p>There are about 250 recovery residences in Philadelphia, but it\u2019s a number no one is sure of.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur main concern is that recovery homes are providing a safe and supportive environment for individuals that are there,\u201d said Derrick Pelletier, DDAP\u2019s policy director. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to see [people with substance use disorder] getting taken advantage of at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pelletier added that DDAP\u2019s oversight will help count recovery homes in the state, especially in Philadelphia. There are nine PARR-certified and 18 city-funded residences in Philadelphia, said Fred Way, PARR\u2019s executive director. In total, he estimated that there are about 250 recovery residences in the city, but it\u2019s a number no one is sure of.<\/p>\n<p>These 27 residences are the only recovery homes officially monitored by these outside agencies. PARR certification is voluntary for homes that aren\u2019t funded by the city.<\/p>\n<p>Williamson said, in an ideal world, Philadelphia would have an organization similar to BCRHA, but its size makes it difficult. Way said such an organization isn\u2019t necessary in the city.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"margin: 1.5em 0 1.25em 0;\">Why monitoring recovery homes is important<\/h3>\n<p>Recovery homes are integral to recovery for many \u2014 including Williamson.<\/p>\n<p>One day in 2012, a man approached a then-98-pound Williamson, who was homeless in Kensington. He offered to help her get into a treatment center. It wouldn\u2019t be her first time in such a facility, and it wasn\u2019t the first time someone had reached out. But she said yes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was just dead,\u201d she said. After she was discharged from the Livengrin Foundation, she lived in a recovery home for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you\u2019re suffering from a drug and alcohol addiction, you always feel like you don\u2019t belong anywhere,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cYou never feel whole. So, when I get to this recovery house, I was surrounded by a bunch of people that understood how I felt. \u2026 What worked for me was going to that recovery house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Living in that recovery home also inspired her to open her own, 14 months into her recovery. But she recognizes that the recovery home model can be abused: Philly.com and Billy Penn have reported on such instances within the past year.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/generocity.org\/philly\/2018\/07\/26\/pennsylvania-bristol-township-recovery-homes-regulations-policy-addiction-housing\/\" target=\"_blank\"  class=\"qbutton  qbutton_with_icon\" style=\"\">Continued at Generocity.org<i class=\"qode_icon_font_awesome fa fa-arrow-circle-right button_icon\" style=\"\" ><\/i><\/a>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Way of Life&#8217;s Barb Williamson, who owns eight sober living homes in the Philadelphia area and Bristol is a proponent of tighter ordinances. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - 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