PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
HEARING ON RECOVERY HOUSING MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL BUILDING LANGHORNE, PENNSYLVANIA
Proceedings held at the Middletown
Township Municipal Building, 3 Municipal Way, Langhorne,
Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, October 8, 2013, commencing at approximately 10:02 a.m., before Barbara McKeon Quinn, a
Registered Merit Reporter and Notary Public, pursuant to notice. 2 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 BEFORE:
2 GENE DiGIROLAMO, MAJORITY CHAIRMAN REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS P. MURT 3 REPRESENTATIVE BERNIE O'NEILL REPRESENTATIVE TINA DAVIS 4 REPRESENTATIVE FRANK FARRY
5 ANGEL CRUZ, MINORITY CHAIRMAN REPRESENTATIVE STEPHEN KINSEY 6 REPRESENTATIVE MADELEINE DEAN
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8 ALSO PRESENT:
9 Melanie Brown, Human Services Committee staff 10 Ashley McCahan, 11 Human Services Committee staff
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25 JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 3 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 INDEX OF SPEAKERS
2 CHAIRMAN GENE DiGIROLAMO 4 BY REPRESENTATIVE FARRY 6 3 BY REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS 8 BY THE CHAIR 10 4 BY THE CHAIR (On behalf of Gary Tennis) 11 BY TED MILLARD 15 5 BY FRED WAY 21 BY AMY MERICLE 23 6 BY KEVIN DIPPOLITO 30 BY AMBER LONGHITANO 34 7 BY JOSEPH W. PIZZO 45 BY DIANE W. ROSATI 57 8 BY REPRESENTATIVE DEAN 64
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25 JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 4 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 THE CHAIR: Good morning, everyone.
2 Welcome to the hearing of the Human
3 Services Committee. And the first order of business I
4 would like to ask everyone if they would rise and we'll
5 recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Pledge of Allegiance.)
7 THE CHAIR: Okay. For the first order of
8 business, I thought maybe we'll just go down the line and
9 ask the members who are present here today and staff to
10 just say hello and let everybody know who they are and
11 what district they come from.
12 And we can start with Tina.
13 REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS: Good morning. Tina
14 Davis, 141, right next to Frank and Gene. Thanks.
15 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Good morning.
16 I'm Bernie O'Neill. I represent the center of Bucks
17 County, Upper Southampton, Warminster area and I go right
18 up to the river of New Hope borough, the 29th district.
19 REPRESENTATIVE MURT: Good morning. My
20 name's Tom Murt. I represent part of eastern Montgomery
21 County and part of Northeast Philadelphia.
22 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: Frank Farry, 142nd
23 District from right here in Middletown.
24 I'd also like to thank Middletown Township
25 Manager, Stephanie Teoli, for hosting us here today. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 5 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 THE CHAIR: Gene DiGirolamo. I represent
2 the 18th District, which is right here in Bucks County,
3 and I'm the Republican chairman of the committee.
4 MELANIE BROWN: Hi, I'm Melanie Brown. I
5 direct the committee on human services.
6 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Good morning. My
7 name is State Representative Stephen Kinsey, Philadelphia
8 County, 231st legislative district.
9 ASHLEY McCAHAN: Ashley McCahan, Human
10 Services Committee staff.
11 THE CHAIR: Okay. I'd like to welcome the
12 members and the staff and everybody who's present here in
13 the audience. I think we're going to have a really good
14 hearing today and I think it's an important hearing.
15 We're holding the hearing on behalves of
16 Representative Frank Farry and Representative Tina Davis
17 here in Bucks County.
18 And the hearing is really about
19 Representative Farry's bill, which is House Bill 1298,
20 and I think we're going to hear some really good
21 testimony today hopefully on the differences between
22 halfway houses and recovery houses and Representative
23 Farry's effort to try to bring some guidelines, some
24 types of state guidelines to the recovery houses that
25 have been popping up not only here in Bucks County but JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 6 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 also all across the state.
2 I believe there are some -- some of them
3 are really good when they're run properly, they're really
4 necessary, but we've heard some stories and rumors about
5 some bad ones popping up and we'd like to somehow bring
6 some guidelines and give some relief to the residents.
7 So with that I'm going to open up and let
8 Representative Frank Farry, he asked for some opening
9 remarks.
10 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: Thank you,
11 Chairman. House Bill 1298 is some very basic legislation
12 which amends existing law.
13 The bill will allow the Department of Drug
14 and Alcohol to promulgate regulations regarding housing
15 programs that offer assistance to people with drug or
16 alcohol abuse problems sometimes referred to as recovery
17 houses.
18 The regulation shall include, but not be
19 limited to, a definition of a recovery house, rights of
20 inspection, assignments of rights of inspection, and
21 penalties when violations of a departmental regulation
22 occur.
23 In order to receive any federal or state
24 funding, a recovery house must comply with regulations
25 promulgated by the Department of Drug and Alcohol JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 7 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 programs.
2 This issue came to light because of some
3 matters that arose here in Middletown, and I know
4 Representative Davis has many more recovery houses in her
5 legislative district.
6 We know how important recovery houses are
7 in the recovery process, and by all means we want to
8 ensure those recovery houses that are run on the up and
9 up, you know, have the protections they need.
10 I think a greater concern are
11 unfortunately there's some folks that are running more so
12 fly-by-night recovery homes, and when they're located in
13 our residential communities it gives rise to great
14 concern.
15 So I look forward to the testimony here
16 today.
17 I think we have a broad base of panelists
18 that are going to provide some very important information
19 and hopefully we can move forward with this legislation
20 and help those that are in recovery with what they need
21 as well as ensuring they're properly protected.
22 THE CHAIR: Thank you.
23 We'd like to also recognize in the
24 audience Sean Schafer from Senator Tommy Tomlinson's
25 office. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 8 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 With that I'll recognize Representative
2 Tina Davis for opening remarks.
3 REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS: Thank you.
4 Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Rep Farry and
5 the committee members for holding this hearing.
6 I just want to let people know I came from
7 a local government background, so I've been dealing with
8 this issue probably for about eight years now. So I'm
9 very excited about the bill that you're going to be
10 hearing about today.
11 The current situation serves no one, not
12 the patient seeking recovery from drug or alcohol
13 addictions and not the conscientious providers trying to
14 provide beneficial services, and definitely not the
15 communities and the residents who are harmed by the lack
16 of oversight and safeguards.
17 The crash of the housing market in '08 and
18 the corresponding foreclosure and tax sales have enabled
19 speculators to buy homes cheaply, turn them into recovery
20 homes. They are able to charge a resident 100 to 150
21 dollars a week.
22 Do the math. If you have seven residents
23 in a home, the income per month is over $4,000.
24 I have many blocks that have two and three
25 on each block. Does anyone care to guess how that could JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 9 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 affect the prices of the surrounding homes and a
2 potential buyer?
3 For me in my district, I can receive
4 anywhere from 1 to 20 calls or e-mails a week with
5 complaints.
6 The most recent one came just yesterday.
7 I would like to read a quote. I do not want to -- this
8 is the quote.
9 I do not want to sound hypocritical. I
10 believe that people deserve second chances, but it is
11 also -- but I also believe that there should be some type
12 of notification.
13 This is a major safety concern. Are there
14 background checks being done? Why are the neighbors not
15 notified? Unquote.
16 I asked my local L & I department whether
17 the applicant was required to show proof that they were a
18 recovery home, and they replied no.
19 It must be noted that there are many
20 property owners who are legitimately trying to help
21 people with drug and alcohol problems. Unfortunately,
22 for every good recovery home, we have ten that do not
23 monitor their tenants.
24 Rep Farry's bill is a common sense, first
25 step to fix this. The bill would give the state the JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 10 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 authority to identify and regulate these recovery homes.
2 It would establish inspections and devise
3 penalties when the recovery homes fail to provide the
4 services needed and promised.
5 It would protect taxpayers by requiring
6 recovery homes to comply with reasonable rules and goals
7 before federal or state funding can be awarded.
8 Unfortunately, the Fair Housing Act has
9 had the unintended consequence of hamstringing our
10 municipalities' abilities to deal with recovery houses in
11 a responsible and needed manner.
12 So thank you for hearing this and I'm
13 excited.
14 THE CHAIR: Okay. Thank you,
15 Representative Davis.
16 And to start off, Secretary of our
17 Department of Drug and Alcohol program, Gary Tennis, was
18 not able to be with us this morning, but he submitted
19 testimony and he asked if I would read it before the
20 hearing starts, and I'm going to do that.
21 It's only about a page and a half; it
22 will take a couple minutes. And I think it's important
23 to have his testimony read into the record.
24 Thank you, Chairman DiGirolamo, and
25 members of the committee for giving -- JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 11 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Oh, excuse me. I would also like to
2 recognize Representative Madeleine Dean who's here today.
3 Madeleine, welcome from Montgomery County.
4 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: Thank you.
5 THE CHAIR: Thank you, Chairman
6 DiGirolamo, and members of the committee for giving
7 attention to the important issue of recovery houses for
8 those who are in early recovery from the disease of drug
9 and alcohol addiction.
10 This has been a critically important issue
11 where significant strides have been made over the past
12 quarter of a century and where a number of challenges
13 were presented to federal, state and local government
14 policymakers.
15 The Department of Drug and Alcohol
16 programs list the issue of recovery housing among the
17 many important issues that need careful review, analysis
18 and restatement of policy and practice from the
19 department's perspective.
20 We are currently in negotiations with the
21 Pennsylvania Recovery Organizational Alliance, PRO-A, to
22 have the alliance work with stakeholders to review some
23 of the opportunities and challenges presented in this
24 arena and to make recommendations to the department.
25 Some principles that are likely to guide JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 12 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 our deliberations are enumerated below. Number 1,
2 treatment of this chronic recurring disease must be
3 comprehensive.
4 Those who are transitioning from inpatient
5 to outpatient treatment and those who are completing
6 their formal regimen of treatment all together will fare
7 much better in maintaining their lives of recovery if
8 they live in a drug-free housing environment that is
9 recovery supportive, not recovery hostile.
10 And I think that is really, really
11 important.
12 Number 2. We must continue to examine
13 funding levels for addiction treatment. National
14 statistics tell us current funding is able to treat one
15 individual for every ten suffering from addiction.
16 Here in Pennsylvania funding levels allow
17 us to treat one out of every eight in need.
18 Understanding that demand continues to
19 outpace our resources, it is critical that the treatment
20 funding we do have to be used for addiction treatment.
21 We must be proactive in working to ensure
22 the public and other funding for recovery housing is paid
23 through housing dollars.
24 Number 3. Recovery housing should not be
25 considered a substitute for clinically appropriate JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 13 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 addiction treatment.
2 It is understandable to want to find ways
3 to maximize the effectiveness of our limited resources,
4 but we should not do so in a manner that may result in
5 undertreatment of the disease.
6 An example of this may be an attempt to
7 inappropriately undertreat individuals who are determined
8 by a full assessment and application of the Pennsylvania
9 Client Placement criteria to be in need of residential
10 treatment, including licensed halfway houses with
11 outpatient plus recovery housing.
12 Unfortunately, there is no research
13 showing that undertreatment works even with the addition
14 of recovery housing.
15 In the absence of clinical evidence for
16 that approach, we must ensure that treatment is conducted
17 with evidence-based clinical integrity.
18 When clinically appropriate treatment
19 occurs, we are convinced that good recovery housing for
20 this group can make good outcomes even better.
21 Number 4. The appropriateness and reach
22 of governmental regulation depends on whether there are
23 public funds involved.
24 For example, if a landlord prefers to rent
25 to recovering people, takes no public funds but instead JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 14 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 is paid rent by his recovering tenants in the normal
2 fashion, then it would appear that the legitimate scope
3 of government regulations should be that applied to any
4 residential landlord tenant situation, Licensing &
5 Inspection for example.
6 If taxpayer dollars are funding recovery
7 housing, then the public is entitled to insist that
8 certain minimal standards are met in order to optimize
9 the prospect for continued recovery and in general the
10 best interest of the public client.
11 The Department of Drug and Alcohol program
12 believes that these minimal standards must be met and
13 intends to work with PRO-A, the Pennsylvania Association
14 of County Drug and Alcohol Directors, the Drug and
15 Alcohol Service Providers of Pennsylvania, the
16 Rehabilitation Community Providers Association, and other
17 interested stakeholders to establish those standards.
18 In conclusion, please accept my
19 appreciation, Chairman DiGirolamo, and the members of the
20 committee for permitting me to submit written testimony
21 to you on this important issue.
22 And I am available at this phone number
23 and address, and his testimony is in the packets for
24 anybody that would like to contact Secretary Gary Tennis.
25 Okay. With that, I'd like to call up our JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 15 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 first testifier who is Ted Millard, who is the executive
2 director of Good Friends, which is a halfway house here
3 in Bucks County.
4 And just to set one guideline for the
5 hearing today, it's my intention to allow everyone to
6 testify first and then at the end of the testimony if
7 everyone could stick around if we have time before 12
8 o'clock, I'd like to open it up for questions and answers
9 at the end.
10 With that, Ted, you can begin whenever
11 you're ready.
12 TED MILLARD: Good morning, Mr. Chairman,
13 and members of the committee. Thank you for the
14 opportunity to participate in this important hearing.
15 My name is Ted Millard. I am the
16 executive director of Good Friends, Incorporated, a
17 licensed residential substance abuse treatment facility
18 here in beautiful Bucks County.
19 For those unfamiliar with our agency, I
20 will quote the Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission
21 who wrote, This organization is a model within its scope
22 of business and is one of the leaders in the provision of
23 halfway house treatment in the state.
24 And within that quote is the reason I
25 appear before you today. The term halfway house, as it JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 16 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 is commonly confused with the focus of this bill, a
2 recovery house.
3 Halfway houses are assumed by many to be
4 recovery houses.
5 As a past president of the Pennsylvania
6 Halfway House Association, I can attest to the numerous
7 telephone calls my counterparts and I have received from
8 citizens looking for a bed in a recovery house, or
9 thinking we are an arm of the criminal justice system as
10 a program for inmates leaving prison, and there is good
11 reason for this confusion.
12 As state sponsored alcoholism programs
13 expanded in the 1950s, concerns grew about how a person
14 would maintain their early recovery as they made the
15 transition from a residential institution back into their
16 community.
17 This created new social settings that
18 provided residential support designed to aid community
19 reentry and the term halfway house was brought into our
20 field's language.
21 These were homeowners opening their homes
22 to support friends and fellow citizens transitioning back
23 from rehab. Some of these new homes branched off to form
24 professional centers.
25 Soon afterwards national advocacy JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 17 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 organizations formed to support this movement, the oldest
2 being The Association of Halfway House Alcoholism
3 Programs of North America.
4 Good Friends, Incorporated was a member of
5 this association along with many of the presently
6 licensed halfway house organizations in Pennsylvania.
7 In the past, Pennsylvania's Bureau of Drug
8 and Alcohol Programs and the Division of Drug and Alcohol
9 Program Licensing each held full memberships in this
10 organization.
11 As the professional development of halfway
12 houses grew, it did not replace the community citizens
13 who shared their living quarters with the newly sober
14 individual as there was a need for both.
15 But both factions often use the same name,
16 halfway house, but now each meant a different thing.
17 The concept of transitioning folks into a
18 community based halfway house became more confusing as
19 the criminal justice system also adopted the term halfway
20 house for their particular use.
21 So from the idea of supporting the newly
22 sober alcoholic, across our nation halfway houses have
23 come to encompass very different things.
24 But in Pennsylvania there is one stark
25 difference. In our Commonwealth the term halfway house JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 18 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 is based in substance abuse legislation.
2 By law a halfway house must be a licensed
3 nonhospital residential treatment and rehabilitation
4 facility that provides a home-like atmosphere within the
5 local community.
6 Its comprehensive license regulations
7 include its business structure, treatment activities,
8 staff member qualifications, and physical plant standards
9 for health and safety.
10 These regulations are reviewed on a
11 yearly basis with on site inspections conducted by the
12 Department of Drug and Alcohol Program's Division of
13 Program Licensure.
14 Each halfway house treatment program also
15 hosts yearly on-site inspections from its contracting
16 single county authority, and the specific requirements
17 under their jurisdiction as well as inspections from each
18 managed care company it contracts with under the
19 HealthChoices Program.
20 But this doesn't stop the confusion over
21 what is a recovery house and what is a halfway house, and
22 I certainly understand why.
23 If a person wants to get information about
24 halfway houses they can use Google as a search engine and
25 type in halfway house. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 19 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 They'll see ten first-page entries, five
2 that relate to recovery housing, including
3 halfwayhouse.com, three involve news articles linked to a
4 criminal justice halfway housing, one is a link to a
5 Wikipedia definition that notes they are for persons
6 recently released from jail or a mental institution, and
7 the last refers to Halfway House, Pennsylvania, a city of
8 3,000 people in Montgomery County.
9 Use ehow.com and it says halfway houses,
10 also called sober houses or sober living, can be the
11 difference between a successful drug treatment episode
12 and relapse.
13 If you are looking to develop a halfway
14 house, then maybe you go to the United States Small
15 Business Administration's website where you will find
16 this title: Resources for Starting a Halfway House or
17 Transitional Housing Facility.
18 It then provides you with its definition.
19 Transitional housing provides people with a temporary
20 place to live as they attempt to get back on their feet
21 or make a major transition in their life.
22 Yes, all of this can be quite confusing to
23 a citizen in Pennsylvania.
24 Because of this confusion I appreciate
25 the opportunity to speak today to clarify the difference JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 20 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 between a licensed halfway house treatment program and a
2 recovery house in Pennsylvania.
3 As Representative Farry's February 14th
4 memo to house members noted, there is presently no
5 definition of a recovery house in Pennsylvania, nor is it
6 currently regulated.
7 As reviewed here, both the definition and
8 regulations for a halfway house are already on the book.
9 It's the confusion that remains.
10 But I am also here to support quality
11 recovery housing. Our agency refers clients to certain
12 recovery houses as we find their services can be an
13 essential part of the recovery process for some
14 individuals.
15 But as you know, recovery houses vary
16 greatly in condition. As a referring provider, I want to
17 be confident that we are referring a client to a place
18 that is safe, appropriately maintained, and beneficial to
19 the client's recovery process.
20 The development of recovery house
21 standards is a positive step in this direction.
22 I believe Commonwealth dollars should only
23 be accessible to recovery houses that meet these
24 developed standards, and I want to be confident that
25 people in need of treatment are being placed in the JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 21 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 appropriate level of care consistent with the
2 Pennsylvania Client Placement Criteria before their
3 entrance into a recovery house.
4 A placement into a recovery house should
5 never be made in lieu of licensed addiction treatment
6 services.
7 Thank you for the opportunity to speak
8 today.
9 THE CHAIR: Okay. Ted, thank you very
10 much and I would appreciate if you could stick around for
11 a little bit in case there are some questions later on.
12 Next we have Fred Way, who's the executive
13 director for the Philadelphia Association of Recovery
14 Residences and also with him is Amy Mericle.
15 Welcome, Fred and Amy. Good to see the
16 both of you.
17 And whenever you're ready, you can begin.
18 FRED WAY: Good morning. We're here to
19 talk about recovery residences and also the -- also, I
20 must also say that I am the vice president of the
21 National Association of Recovery Residences also.
22 So, therefore, I see recovery houses
23 throughout the United States. Okay? And the issues that
24 we're having here, okay, are no different than a lot of
25 other states that are going on right now. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 22 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 One of the goals of PARR, you know, is to
2 decrease stigma, you know, around recovery housing and
3 creating standards within the recovery housing which has
4 been the thing that we have been doing for the last year.
5 In the City of Philadelphia there are two
6 major distinctions within a recovery home network.
7 Some homes receive funding from the
8 Philadelphia Office of Addiction Services, but the vast
9 majority of the homes do not, and those are the vast
10 majority that PARR is working with.
11 Homes that receive funding from OAS must
12 verify licensing compliance as well as proof of ownership
13 of the property, general liability insurance, proof of
14 current utility bills, and proof of a 501(c)(3) or a
15 nonprofit designation before they can receive funding.
16 The OAS funded houses have direct
17 oversight. Referrals are generated through the Housing
18 Initiative Office and the houses have staff coverage
19 around the clock.
20 Heretofore, neither oversight nor support
21 exists in the unfunded homes.
22 Our mission at PARR is to create, evaluate
23 and improve standards in terms of quality of all recovery
24 residences.
25 PARR provides a forum for its changing JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 23 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 ideas to include and develop uniformity in our field of
2 problem solving and advocacy.
3 Also, for 20 years I worked for the Office
4 of Addiction Services and I've overseen the funding
5 system, okay, so I've seen the funded houses and now I'm
6 working with the unfunded houses.
7 And believe me, at this point with PARR, I
8 have certified 15 houses that meet the standards of a
9 Level 2 and there are another 51 that's in the process or
10 stages of trying to get their house to be able to meet
11 those standards.
12 So the operators of these houses are
13 willing to adhere to standards; it's just a matter of
14 working with them and developing them as far as, you
15 know, their business.
16 I have with me Dr. Mericle who -- and also
17 in the packet that I sent you guys have, there's a few
18 things in there. Dr. Mericle is conducting a study in
19 Philadelphia, and I will let her talk to you about that
20 very briefly.
21 AMY MERICLE: Thank you. As Fred
22 mentioned, my name is Amy Mericle.
23 I'm a health services researcher
24 specializing in addiction health services research, and
25 I'm here today to talk about my work, my research on JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 24 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 recovery residences.
2 Fred mentioned that in your packet is a
3 Policy Statement on recovery residences that I
4 co-authored with Lenny Jason who's done research on
5 Oxford Houses as well as Doug Polcin who's done research
6 on sober living houses in California, and Bill White, who
7 is a well-known substance abuse treatment researcher.
8 What this document does is, it very
9 clearly describes and defines what a recovery residence
10 is.
11 For example, in the second paragraph,
12 Recovery residences, which go by the names of sober
13 living houses, recovery homes and Oxford Houses, are
14 sober, safe and healthy living environments that promote
15 recovery from alcohol and drug use and associated
16 problems.
17 At a minimum recovery residences offer
18 peer-to-peer recovery support with some providing
19 professionally delivered services and clinical services
20 all aimed at promoting abstinence and long-term recovery.
21 So you can see in that definition there is
22 a range of different types of recovery residences.
23 Again, at a minimum, it provides peer-to-peer support,
24 but at the other end of the spectrum they can provide
25 much more. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 25 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 So I think that in talking about recovery
2 residences, it's important to keep in mind that there are
3 different types so that there is a range of a continuum
4 of services that can be received in recovery residences.
5 The next paragraph of this position
6 statement talks about the research on recovery
7 residences. And, unfortunately, there hasn't been
8 enough.
9 My colleague, Lenny Jason, has been over
10 the past decade been researching Oxford Houses.
11 And at this point there's a really good
12 base, literature base on the advocacy of Oxford Houses.
13 In fact, it's on NREPP's list of evidence-based
14 practices.
15 But that's just one type of recovery
16 residence, the Oxford House. There are also different -
17 or other types of recovery residences as well.
18 So my other colleague, who's a co-author
19 on this paper, Doug Polcin, has done research on sober
20 living houses in California.
21 And his work also shows very promising
22 results about the effectiveness of sober living houses in
23 California.
24 Unfortunately, there is little else out
25 there in terms of research on recovery residences, which JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 26 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 is unfortunate, but I'm hoping to fill that gap with my
2 research on recovery residences in Philadelphia, and I'll
3 tell you a little bit more about that.
4 What this statement goes on to say is that
5 after reviewing what a recovery residence is, the
6 literature base on them, it outlines a direction to
7 proceed in terms of promoting and supporting recovery
8 residences.
9 And the policy statement really has four
10 groups of recommendations. The first recommendation is
11 really about support of recovery residences, and that's
12 about funding.
13 As researchers we were very keen to hop on
14 recommendations with regard to research, but we can't
15 research them and establish their effectiveness and
16 efficacy if they don't exist.
17 And it's very hard for recovery residences
18 to be out there because of lack of funding for them but
19 also because of stigma.
20 So one of the recommendations in this
21 report is also for advocacy, recovery home advocacy,
22 recovery residence advocacy, trying to educate the public
23 about what recovery residences are, what they do, to
24 increase support for them.
25 And then the other recommendation that is JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 27 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 in there is about training and education to help provide
2 professionals knowledge for what they need to do in order
3 to run a recovery residence.
4 So in my work in Philadelphia, I received
5 funding from the Department of Health here in
6 Pennsylvania to study recovery residences in
7 Philadelphia.
8 What we did was we drew a stratified
9 random sample of 20 homes in Philadelphia, actually 25
10 homes, and the first part of that process was trying to
11 map or to identify all of the recovery residences in
12 Philadelphia, and there are quite a few.
13 Working from a list that the city had put
14 together from their work mapping recovery residences and
15 recovery homes and recovery resources and from the work
16 that Fred did with the Philadelphia Association of
17 Recovery Residences, PARR, we had a listing of almost 300
18 houses.
19 We tried to contact each and every one of
20 those houses to see if they were still around, to get
21 more information about the clients they served, and
22 whether or not they would be eligible to be part of our
23 study.
24 After we went through that process we
25 whittled the list down to about 220-odd recovery homes in JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 28 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Philadelphia. That's quite a bit.
2 But we were able to sample from that 25
3 houses that we studied basically by talking with the
4 recovery home operator.
5 So it could have been the owner of the
6 house, it could have been the house manager, it could
7 have been the director.
8 But basically we wanted to get a sense of
9 what they were doing in their houses, what kinds of
10 services they were providing, what kinds of clients they
11 accepted into their programs, and actually what happened
12 in the houses in terms of treatment or after-care, things
13 like that.
14 And what we found actually was that -
15 and, again, this is based on what the providers or the
16 recovery house operators were telling us, was that most
17 of them operate in a very therapeutically oriented
18 manner.
19 They had rules and regulations for their
20 residents. They provided a range of services.
21 They required their clients to either be
22 attending self-help meetings or to be attending
23 treatment. It was definitely -- it was very
24 therapeutically oriented.
25 But we also heard from them about all of JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 29 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 the obstacles that they encountered in trying to operate
2 these homes, and most of that was perceptions and stigma
3 about addiction, about what they were trying to do with
4 their houses.
5 Now, as part of that study we also
6 collected data from residents. We conducted focus groups
7 with over 100 residents in 13 different houses, and we
8 conducted focus groups with alumni who used to live in
9 recovery houses.
10 And we were also able to follow up with
11 residents who participated in these focus groups three
12 months later to see how they were doing.
13 Now we're still analyzing the data that we
14 got from the residents, and I don't want to say too much,
15 but what I can say is that the theme of stigma was also
16 something that the residents brought up.
17 And one of the things that I heard most
18 frequently was that they wished that people realized that
19 recovery homes were part of the solution and not part of
20 the problem; that they were people who were trying to
21 change their lives, to turn their lives around, and just
22 wanted to have a second chance.
23 So I hope to have more of my findings out
24 soon, but it's been a pleasure to talk with this group
25 and to share what I've learned about recovery homes in JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 30 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Philadelphia.
2 So thank you and thank you, Fred.
3 THE CHAIR: Okay. Fred and Amy, thank
4 you. I would appreciate if the both of you could hang
5 around for a little bit, because I'm sure there's going
6 to be some questions for you.
7 Thank you for very good testimony.
8 Next we have Kevin Dippolito, who's the
9 fire marshal and emergency management director for
10 Bristol Township, and also along with him I believe Amber
11 Longhitano, who is a council person in Bristol Township
12 also going to testify, and also I'd like to recognize
13 Craig Bowen who's in attendance this morning -- Craig,
14 welcome -- who's also on council in Bristol Township.
15 Kevin, you can begin whenever you like.
16 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: Thank you. I was asked
17 to come before you today to speak on fire safety issues
18 with -- directly related to recovery homes.
19 In Bristol Township you may or may not
20 know already we have approximately 40 recovery homes in
21 the township.
22 When they first come into the township,
23 they go through a proper process of getting registered
24 with the township, being told how many people they can
25 have in their home, but unfortunately right now those JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 31 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 homes are not required to have automatic fire alarm
2 systems in them.
3 The issue we have with this is, as the
4 doctor said previous to me, folks go into these homes
5 with the intent and hopes of having a safe and secure
6 environment to go through their recovery process.
7 I'd like to see that go a step further and
8 have at the state level the requirement for monitored
9 fire alarm systems in these homes.
10 The reason I say that is, these folks are
11 short-term most of the time in these homes. They're not
12 familiar with these houses.
13 They did not grow up in them, they cannot
14 close their eyes and crawl from one end of the house to
15 the other during a dark smoky fire condition.
16 We need, that being the fire service, we
17 need every moment we can get to effect a rescue in these
18 homes if they are trapped in these houses.
19 Unlike the City of Philadelphia, who has a
20 fully staffed fire department that's ready to roll out
21 the doors within 30 seconds or so, Bristol Township, like
22 all of Bucks County, is primarily served by volunteer
23 firefighters.
24 Those trucks typically will not hit the
25 street in the middle of the night when people are asleep JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 32 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 and most at risk for three to four minutes.
2 Having automatic fire detection systems in
3 these homes will accomplish several things.
4 Number one, it will give notification to
5 all occupants of the house no matter where they are
6 located in the house because the systems will be tied
7 together.
8 So someone who is sleeping at one end of
9 the house will be alerted to a fire at the far end.
10 Unlike an individual stand-alone battery operated smoke
11 detector which only beeps where the smoke is.
12 A system that is all tied together
13 interconnected will alert throughout the residence
14 regardless of what floor they're on or what end of the
15 building they're on giving them the most opportunity to
16 get out of that house.
17 In addition, that alarm system should or
18 could send a signal to an alarm monitoring company which
19 automatically dispatches the fire department.
20 So while those folks are escaping the fire
21 department is being notified by an automatic dialing
22 system coming out of the control panel of the alarm
23 system.
24 That in turn gets the firefighters
25 responding before one of those folks needs to find a JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 33 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 phone, because they may have escaped with only the
2 clothes on their back, not grabbing their cell phones on
3 the way out the door.
4 That in itself would increase the life
5 safety of these homes tremendously.
6 In addition, if we had a state required
7 annual inspection, the respective fire authority of that
8 municipality would be able to make sure these fire alarm
9 systems are upkept, that they're working properly, that
10 fire extinguishers are placed in the homes where they
11 should be.
12 They have an opportunity to speak to the
13 tenants of the house at that time for a very -- it may be
14 brief, but it may be an opportunity to show them how to
15 use a fire extinguisher, make sure they know where the
16 fire extinguishers are located.
17 So the other option that would give us
18 would -- if there's an annual inspection program of these
19 homes strictly for the safety of the residents, it would
20 also give us the opportunity to make sure that the
21 population in that house hasn't gone above what is
22 permissible for the respective municipality.
23 We have found in cases where areas that
24 were previously not sleeping rooms have been converted
25 into sleeping rooms. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 34 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 This is not the case most of the time, but
2 it has been the case a few times that I can think of
3 where additional rooms that used to be a living space
4 were chopped up and subdivided into additional living
5 spaces.
6 To the fire service, when we go to a
7 residential house, we have a rough idea how many people
8 might be trapped in that house.
9 When we go to a recovery home, unless we
10 are somewhat recently involved in having contact with
11 that house, we may not know.
12 We may have people in that home that we
13 were not expecting to be in places where typically you're
14 not going to find somebody sleeping. Assuming this is
15 taking place in the middle of the night.
16 For that an annual inspection, a safety
17 inspection program, again, to ensure the safety of the
18 occupants to go there with the intent of having a safe
19 environment to go through their recovery, this would be
20 undoubtedly beneficial to not only to their safety but
21 the fire department who's going to respond to effect a
22 rescue in the middle of the night.
23 That's all.
24 THE CHAIR: Amber.
25 AMBER LONGHITANO: Thank you. I would JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 35 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 like to thank this distinguished committee, Chairman and
2 Representative Farry for taking a stand to look at
3 halfway houses and recovery homes at all.
4 In Bristol Township of the immediate
5 vicinity halfway houses/recovery homes we have four in
6 Falls Township, we have nine in Bristol Borough, we have
7 two in Middletown Township, and we have, as Kevin said,
8 actually 42 in Bristol Township.
9 We believe in second chances and we
10 believe that there is a need for recovery homes and
11 halfway houses for individuals seeking to better their
12 lives.
13 However, we have a responsibility as
14 elected officials for the lives that exist within our
15 community.
16 When you inundate a community with halfway
17 houses, it puts a hardship on property value on the
18 residents themselves and everybody including -
19 (Technical difficulty.)
20 Sorry about that.
21 Okay. As I was saying, when you inundate
22 a community with halfway houses, it affects the whole
23 community and all of the residents within it.
24 I'm asking this committee to go just one
25 step further and try and look into, whether it be on a JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 36 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 state level or a federal level, some kind of regulations
2 as to how many can exist within one community and within
3 one neighborhood before it affects the whole community,
4 and that is what is happening in Bristol Township.
5 So I thank you very much for this
6 opportunity to speak and I appreciate you taking a stand
7 and I will look to you guys further for help.
8 THE CHAIR: Since this is Fire Prevention
9 Week and I know Kevin is not able to stay to the end of
10 the meeting, I'm going to open it up to a couple of
11 questions if anybody has any questions for Kevin or
12 Amber.
13 Any members of the committee have any
14 questions?
15 Representative Kinsey.
16 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Thank you,
17 Mr. Chair.
18 For the fire marshal, I just have a few
19 questions if you don't mind.
20 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: Yes, sir.
21 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: I think you
22 suggested setting up a -- I think when you were talking
23 about the, I think it's the smoke detectors or the fire
24 alarm system in the home?
25 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: Uh-huh. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 37 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Do you have any
2 estimation as to what the average cost might be? You're
3 talking about hard wiring that?
4 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: Correct. I'm talking
5 about an actual fire alarm system with the smoke
6 detectors interconnected. They now have some RF systems
7 that communicate the RF frequency that don't require
8 wiring.
9 As a matter of fact, that's what I put in
10 my house last year. They're phenomenal. They accomplish
11 what needs to be done and that is unilateral activation
12 throughout the house.
13 I believe -- you're asking for a rough
14 estimate? Is that it?
15 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Yes.
16 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: I believe you could
17 probably in most Levittown style homes put one in for
18 2,000, give or take.
19 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Okay. That's
20 fairly reasonable.
21 And the second question is, I think you
22 had mentioned suggestion of an annual state required
23 inspection.
24 In your estimation -- well, I guess when
25 you perceive that annual state required inspection, who JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 38 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 would be responsible for conducting that?
2 Would that be the fire department? Would
3 it be maybe a department of L & I or would it be the
4 actual owner of the property?
5 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: Well, if we utilize the
6 Uniform Construction Code, as we have now in the State of
7 Pennsylvania, each municipality has the option to either
8 do it in house or contract out to a third-party depending
9 on that particular area.
10 The City of Philadelphia and Bristol
11 Township, we have our own fire marshal offices and such.
12 But you may be in a more rural area where they contract
13 out to a third-party agency.
14 As long as the inspections are getting
15 done, you know, it's -- you know, whoever does it is fine
16 as long as it's done efficiently and proficiently.
17 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: I guess my concern
18 was that if we allowed it to let's just say the operator
19 of such property or even the property owner I guess the
20 question -
21 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: No.
22 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Okay.
23 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: Yes. I'm sorry. I
24 meant for that to take place by a fire official at some
25 level. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 39 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Okay. Great.
2 Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
3 THE CHAIR: Anybody else?
4 Representative O'Neill.
5 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Thank you for
6 being with us today.
7 I guess my question relates to zoning.
8 I'm a former township supervisor. Aren't these
9 residential recovery houses covered under the zoning
10 ordinances? Aren't they considered institutional because
11 you're -
12 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: They are -- I can't say
13 completely and intelligently about all the zoning
14 ordinances of Bristol Township. That is not within my
15 responsibility.
16 What I do know is when they first become
17 recovery homes, they go through a process at the township
18 level.
19 But once they go through that process,
20 their only recurring contact with the township presently,
21 as far as Bristol Township goes, is if they have a change
22 of tenants.
23 If they have a change of tenants they're
24 supposed to notify the township for earned income tax
25 reasons. But beyond that, there's -- there's little JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 40 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 contact with the township.
2 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Really? I mean,
3 I have to be honest with you, I'm at a loss for words for
4 the lack of local control over this.
5 I mean, there's so much local control over
6 everything else.
7 I mean, my district office is inspected
8 every year, you know, and it seems like -- it seems like
9 there's more restrictions on my office than there is in a
10 residential institutional -
11 Let me ask you this question. Do you have
12 any group homes for the disabled in your community?
13 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: Yes.
14 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Are they covered
15 under any such laws that you're speaking about right now?
16 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: No. And I think they
17 also deserve the same annual inspections that we're
18 speaking of today for the recovery homes.
19 These folks that you're now speaking of
20 are often nonambulatory and need as much protection as
21 they can get.
22 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Sure.
23 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: The difference here may
24 be is that a lot of the homes that have nonambulatory
25 persons living in them have home managers or some sort of JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 41 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 adult supervision to assist them.
2 In the recovery style homes that's not the
3 case from all my contacts. They typically live there,
4 they govern themselves with -- without a house manager so
5 to speak.
6 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: And I agree with
7 you. I'm kind of surprised it doesn't exist.
8 If I owned a home, I inherit, you know, a
9 15-bedroom home from my parents and I decide to rent the
10 rooms out, I have to go through a process with the
11 township.
12 Would you have to, under current zoning
13 laws or under any current township rules, come and
14 inspect on a regular the safety because I'm renting those
15 rooms out?
16 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: No. No. There's no
17 requirement for that to be done.
18 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Okay. Thank you.
19 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: You're welcome.
20 If I may go back to one point you made
21 about how your office would require an annual fire
22 inspection. That's a very good point.
23 We're talking about a place where no one
24 sleeps, where the likelihood of human life being in
25 danger during a fire being minimal. We are reducing the JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 42 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 chances of fire, but there's no life hazard there.
2 Compared to a recovery home where we have
3 a life hazard, often a high life hazard, and I equate
4 this to some apartment buildings. There are some smaller
5 apartment buildings that may have fewer people in them
6 than a recovery home does.
7 A small apartment may be an old home that
8 was changed into an apartment building with common
9 hallways could actually have less than some larger homes.
10 So there's definitely a life hazard there
11 that we'd like to eliminate. We're the fire service. We
12 want to protect lives and property. Lives being the
13 first and foremost.
14 THE CHAIR: Representative Murt.
15 REPRESENTATIVE MURT: Thank you,
16 Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your testimony, Kevin.
17 I have a question. And the question is,
18 currently can a municipality enact a fire detection
19 system requirement in Pennsylvania?
20 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: I don't believe -- and,
21 again, I'm speaking a little out of turn, because this
22 would go towards licensing and inspections department and
23 our zoning.
24 But I do not believe, because they are
25 considered rental properties under the current laws, that JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 43 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 they can enact that. I believe if we could we would have
2 done that already.
3 REPRESENTATIVE MURT: One other question,
4 Mr. Chairman.
5 You mentioned that in Bristol Township
6 there's 42 halfway houses. Is that an inordinate large
7 amount? Is there some reason why Bristol Township would
8 have so many houses within it?
9 AMBER LONGHITANO: I'm not sure exactly
10 why Bristol Township had so many. I think it's because
11 there weren't ordinances in place.
12 Some of the other townships and towns do
13 have ordinances in play, and we are working on that right
14 now as far as how many can exist in a residential home
15 that are nonblood related and still call it a residence
16 or a residential community.
17 They've also implemented things like how
18 many parking spots off street must be available per
19 licensed driver in a home. We've had none of that in
20 Bristol Township.
21 So it's kind of been a free-for-all I
22 believe for people coming into Bristol Township and yes,
23 it is an exorbitant amount of halfway homes and recovery
24 homes.
25 And the problem that I have with that JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 44 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 within my community, unfortunately, the statistics are,
2 as sad as it may be, there is a 30 percent increase in
3 crime within a four-block radius of each one of these.
4 If you look at that and you add 42 or 51,
5 which is today's number, that completes my whole -
6 encompasses my whole community.
7 So we have a major problem in Bristol
8 Township, which is why I'm asking the committee to go a
9 little bit further than just the inspections and look
10 into how many can exist within one community.
11 REPRESENTATIVE MURT: Thank you for your
12 testimony.
13 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
14 THE CHAIR: Any other questions?
15 Representative Farry.
16 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: First off, thank
17 you for coming out today. I know it's Fire Prevention
18 Week and how busy it is.
19 I think it's important in the event this
20 legislation is successfully implemented that we carry
21 through the comments of the fire marshal to the Secretary
22 of Drug and Alcohol to ensure that those concerns are
23 hopefully addressed through the regulations that will be
24 promulgated by the department.
25 So I think your testimony was dead on and JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 45 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 I thank you for being here.
2 KEVIN DIPPOLITO: Thank you for the
3 opportunity.
4 THE CHAIR: Okay. Thank you.
5 I'd like to recognize my Democratic
6 Chairman of the Committee, Representative Angel Cruz,
7 from Philadelphia. Angel, welcome.
8 REPRESENTATIVE CRUZ: I apologize. I did
9 circles twice around here so, but I'm here.
10 THE CHAIR: Welcome to Bucks County. I
11 get lost in Philadelphia sometimes, too, Angel.
12 Our next testifier will be Joe Pizzo. Joe
13 is a solicitor not only for Middletown Township but also
14 for Bensalem.
15 I'd like to welcome Joe. Whenever you are
16 ready begin.
17 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: Good morning. I
18 provided your assistant with a copy of a statement. I
19 don't know if the board would like -- if the committee
20 would like to get a copy of that now.
21 In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania second
22 class township -- local government in general, but I'll
23 speak primarily to second class townships, as I've
24 represented currently Bensalem and Middletown and I've
25 previously represented Lower Southampton, Northampton and JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 46 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Bristol Townships here in Bucks County.
2 Second Class Township Code empowers
3 townships to make and adopt ordinances, bylaws, rules and
4 regulations that are not inconsistent with or restrained
5 by the constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth, and
6 those laws have to be necessary for the proper
7 management, care and control of the township, the
8 maintenance of peace, good government, health, welfare of
9 the township and its citizens.
10 Under the Second Class Township Code
11 townships are further empowered to plan for the
12 development of the township through zoning, subdivision
13 and land development regulations under the Pennsylvania
14 Municipalities Planning Code.
15 Townships are further able to enact and
16 enforce ordinances to govern and regulate the
17 construction, alteration, repair, occupation,
18 maintenance, sanitation, lighting, ventilation, water
19 supply, toilet facilities, drainage, use and inspection
20 of all buildings and housing constructed, erected,
21 altered, designed or used for any use or occupancy and
22 the sanitation of inspection of land within the township.
23 In order to enforce those ordinances the
24 township may appoint one or more building and housing
25 inspectors to enforce those regulations of the township JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 47 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 and for the inspection of construction, alteration,
2 repair and sanitation facilities of buildings and housing
3 in the township.
4 Furthermore, townships are generally
5 empowered to adopt ordinances to secure the safety of
6 persons or property within the township and to define
7 disturbing the peace within the limitations of the
8 township.
9 Townships are further given power by the
10 legislature to ensure that fire and emergency medical
11 services are provided within the township by the means
12 and to the extent determined by the township including
13 financial and administrative assistance for those
14 services.
15 The legislature's also given townships
16 through the Second Class Township Code the power to
17 provide for fire protection within the township and adopt
18 any standard fire protection code.
19 Article 19 of the Second Class Township
20 Code empowers the township to create, fund and operate a
21 police force within the township.
22 Under the Pennsylvania Municipalities
23 Planning Code, second class townships are empowered to
24 enact zoning ordinances that are designed in part to
25 promote, protect and facilitate any or all of the JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 48 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 following.
2 The public health safety morals and
3 general welfare, coordinated and practical community
4 development and proper density of population and
5 emergency management and preparedness operations.
6 Similarly, zoning ordinances are designed
7 to prevent overcrowding of land, blight, danger and
8 congestion and traveling transportation, loss of health,
9 life or property from fire, flood, panic or other
10 dangers.
11 The Commonwealth has also adopted the
12 Pennsylvania Construction Code Act by which townships are
13 empowered to administer and enforce the Pennsylvania
14 Uniform Construction Code.
15 The stated purpose of that act is in part
16 to provide standards for the protection of life, health,
17 property and environment and for the safety and welfare
18 of the consumer, the general public and the owners and
19 occupants of buildings and structures.
20 It's a lot of power.
21 All of those citations that I just gave
22 you are there to demonstrate that the Commonwealth has
23 vested local municipalities and second class townships in
24 particular with a wide range and a broad grant of police
25 powers for the proper management of a township and for JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 49 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 the maintenance and protection of the health, safety and
2 welfare of its citizens.
3 Ironically many of those powers that I
4 just enumerated are either inapplicable or unenforceable
5 by the township when the property or the structure
6 involved is a recovery home.
7 Recovery home is one that houses a drug or
8 alcohol treatment program.
9 And when the township seeks to enforce any
10 of its police powers where the township finds itself is a
11 combination of the Fair Housing Act Amendments from 1988,
12 the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with
13 Disabilities Act.
14 Together, when applied collectively, have
15 rendered local municipalities all but powerless both in
16 theory and in fact in regard to even the most basic
17 enforcement of its zoning, its building, and its safety
18 codes and ordinances when the property at issue houses a
19 recovery program.
20 Now, the intention from the Fair Housing
21 Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with
22 Disabilities Act is to protect persons with disabilities
23 from and against discrimination.
24 It is clearly one of the paramount goals
25 of our society. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 50 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Equal access to safe neighborhoods and to
2 habitable housing should not be denied to any citizen.
3 That much is clear. But it's at this juncture where the
4 inconsistency and the irony meet.
5 In the name of protecting recovery homes
6 and similar facilities from either overzealous or
7 overreaching regulation by local municipalities in their
8 efforts to perhaps exclude these uses from a
9 neighborhood, the net effect or the resultant effect is
10 that the interpretation of these statutes by the courts
11 have essentially rendered the townships powerless to
12 regulate them once they have located within the
13 community.
14 And it is that regulation for the
15 individuals who are in these facilities, the individuals
16 with the disabilities that the township should be seeking
17 to protect, the township can't.
18 Because, candidly, the collective
19 enforcement of these federal statutes combined with the
20 court decisions that have interpreted them put the
21 township essentially in fear of even attempting even the
22 most basic regulations at time for fear of finding the
23 township on the wrong end of a civil rights lawsuit
24 that's brought under each of those statutes as well as
25 the 14th amendment to the constitution. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 51 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 In the municipalities that I've
2 represented over the years recovery homes have existed
3 largely without efforts by the community to oppose them.
4 In many cases neither the surrounding
5 residents nor the local government themselves are even
6 aware they exist.
7 You heard testimony from the gentleman
8 from Bristol Township there are some 40 in Bristol
9 Township currently.
10 Our estimates are in Middletown that there
11 are at least 30 group homes of various varieties
12 including recovery homes. Bensalem we would estimate at
13 least an equal amount again.
14 The existence of many of these group
15 homes, recovery homes without the knowledge of
16 surrounding residents and without the intervention of the
17 township comes largely from them functioning the way that
18 they are intended to function.
19 And that is with a group of unrelated
20 individuals functioning within a single family structure,
21 a single family home operating as a family, sharing a
22 single kitchen, common bathroom facilities and a number
23 of bedrooms.
24 It's when the recovery home is operated in
25 a fashion that is inconsistent with the structure or JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 52 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 within the neighborhood within which it's located that
2 the need for regulation and enforcement becomes necessary
3 and, in fact, evident to those around the facility as
4 well as the township itself.
5 As I said a moment ago, the model for
6 recovery homes that I've most encountered over the last
7 20 years is one where a single family residence is
8 purchased either by a for-profit or a not-for-profit
9 entity for the operation of a recovery home.
10 The recovery home is occupied by unrelated
11 individuals who are in recovery from drug or alcohol
12 addiction.
13 They pay the owner/operator of that
14 recovery home a daily, weekly or a monthly fee to live
15 in the recovery home as they transition either from a
16 treatment facility or a detention facility back into
17 society.
18 The recovery home structure itself remains
19 as a single house just as those that many of the people
20 surrounding the facility occupy as well.
21 Again, it has a single kitchen, common
22 bathrooms, and bedrooms that are occupied typically by
23 one or two of the recovery residents.
24 The number of individuals residing in the
25 house are appropriate for the size of the structure and JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 53 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 for the neighborhood in which the house is located and
2 from both a safety and quality of life perspective for
3 those both inside the house and those living next door to
4 it, there's no difference between the recovery home and
5 any other home on that street or in that neighborhood.
6 It's when the operation of the recovery
7 home seeks to exceed the tolerances, if you will, of the
8 structure or the neighborhood in which it's located that
9 the problems occur.
10 And it is that point in time that those
11 residents of the recovery home, those are the people with
12 the disabilities, that's when they are most in need of
13 the protections of local government.
14 Simply put, when the owner or operator of
15 the recovery house populates the structure with more
16 people than it should, those residents have been placed
17 at risk.
18 You heard lengthy testimony from the
19 Bristol Township fire marshal regarding fire safety
20 issues surrounding these facilities.
21 Under all local safety fire codes,
22 nonresidential structures are rated based on size, use
23 and occupancy as to the fire protection and the fire
24 safety measures they're required to have in place.
25 The need for sprinklers, the number and JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 54 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 location of fire exists, the placement and marking of
2 fire extinguishers or pull stations are all based in part
3 on who will be occupying the building, how many people
4 will be in the building at any one time, and the size and
5 layout of the structure itself.
6 Similar ratings are applied to multifamily
7 residences and structures such as hotels, apartments and
8 boarding houses.
9 And, again, for the same reasons, namely,
10 the health and safety of the people inside the structure
11 and the safety and protection of the surrounding
12 structures.
13 Today in most second class townships in
14 Pennsylvania a local fire marshal or a code inspector
15 cannot in most cases apply those very same standards to a
16 recovery house.
17 There is no inspection protocol to ensure
18 that the number of recovery patients paying to be in that
19 home is in fact a safe number to occupy that structure
20 for fire safety purposes.
21 There's no regulation under which a fire
22 marshal or code inspector can make sure that the
23 facilities being provided by the owner/operator of that
24 program will provide sufficient warning or safe and
25 adequate means of escape in the event of a fire. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 55 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Similarly, there's no opportunity for an
2 inspector to determine even on an annual basis that the
3 common kitchen and bathroom facilities provided to these
4 individuals function in a safe, sanitary or proper
5 manner.
6 Local governments are empowered to provide
7 greater protections to patrons in a nightclub, guests in
8 a motel, or transient residents in a boarding house than
9 they are to persons with disabilities who are paying for
10 the opportunity to live in a recovery house as they work
11 to overcome their addiction.
12 This clearly is not in keeping with the
13 stated purposes of the antidiscrimination laws that I
14 mentioned earlier and it is however where municipalities
15 find themselves today when it comes to the regulation of
16 recovery homes.
17 Again, local governments are reluctant to
18 even try to do the most basic health and safety
19 inspections or enforcement for fear of becoming
20 defendants in a civil rights litigation filed under these
21 antidiscrimination statutes or the equal protection
22 clause of the constitution by the owners and operators of
23 the recovery home.
24 Allowing the regulation and inspection of
25 recovery houses by the township for compliance with basic JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 56 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 local fire building, property maintenance and zoning
2 codes is consistent with all the legislation referenced
3 in this statement.
4 It will protect and maintain the health,
5 safety and welfare of those inside and outside of the
6 recovery home.
7 Most importantly, Representative Farry's
8 proposed legislation will not serve to harm in any way
9 those persons who are in recovery. It will serve to
10 protect them.
11 It will not result in recovery houses
12 being shuttered or barred from residing in residential
13 neighborhoods to which persons in recovery are seeking to
14 live.
15 Rather it will protect the recovery home
16 residents from those owners and operators of recovery
17 facilities who may put additional revenue ahead of the
18 safety and welfare of the persons paying to live in the
19 recovery homes.
20 Furthermore, in all cases, irrespective of
21 the motives of the operator and how the facility is
22 operated, it will assure that these individuals are being
23 provided at a minimum safe and habitable housing during
24 their time in recovery.
25 I open the floor for any questions. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 57 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 THE CHAIR: Joe, do you have a little bit
2 of time to stick around?
3 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: Absolutely.
4 THE CHAIR: We have one more testifier and
5 then after she's done we're going to open it for
6 questions. If you can stick around a little bit I'd
7 appreciate it.
8 THE WITNESS: I'd be happy to.
9 THE CHAIR: Thank you.
10 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: Certainly.
11 THE CHAIR: Our last testifier for today
12 is someone who I know very well, Diane Rosati, who's the
13 executive director for the Bucks County Drug and Alcohol
14 Commission.
15 Hardly two or three days goes by where I'm
16 not calling Diane up and trying to help for a Bucks
17 County resident.
18 And as I said numerous times to you
19 privately, and I'll say publicly, thank you for the
20 really, really good work, life-saving work actually, that
21 you do for the residents that are in need of drug and
22 alcohol treatment here in Bucks County.
23 So when you're ready, please begin.
24 DIANE W. ROSATI: Thank you for your kind
25 words, and thank you esteemed legislators, officials and JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 58 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 community members.
2 My name is Diane Rosati, Executive
3 Director of the Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission
4 located in Warminster, Pennsylvania.
5 I appreciate this opportunity to speak
6 with the Human Services Committee and stakeholders in
7 support of House Bill No. 1298 which addresses such an
8 important issue for our community and for people in
9 recovery.
10 Created in 1973 the Bucks County Drug and
11 Alcohol Commission is the designated Single County
12 Authority, SCA, for alcohol, tobacco and other drug
13 services for Bucks County.
14 We're responsible as the government entity
15 for the administration and management of public funds
16 designated for substance abuse prevention, intervention,
17 treatment and recovery services.
18 We're a non-profit organization governed
19 by a voluntary board of directors who are appointed by
20 the Bucks County commissioners.
21 We are fortunate in Bucks County to have a
22 legislative delegation that understands addiction and
23 recovery. Our treatment and recovery support providers,
24 some of whom are present today, offer comprehensive and
25 effective services. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 59 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 However, as each of you know, the demand
2 for drug and alcohol treatment is every increasing. We
3 are faced with a perfect storm.
4 For the first time in our tenure this past
5 year the commission noted that heroin has overtaken
6 alcohol as the primary drug abuse. That is the drug that
7 most people reportedly were using when they entered
8 treatment.
9 We're experiencing an opiate and
10 prescription medication epidemic. The impact of
11 healthcare reform is yet undetermined.
12 Each day we, and you as legislators,
13 receive desperate phone calls from parents of children
14 who are not minor children and are often in their 20s,
15 30s and 40s seeking direction on where to turn for help.
16 Too many, and one is too many, parents
17 call our office to tell us of a child's death by
18 overdose.
19 For every year that we do not receive an
20 increase in our funding, that translates into a decrease
21 in the bottom line for our providers whose expenses have
22 not remained flat.
23 Our role is to provide treatment and
24 recovery support funding for Bucks County residents who
25 are not covered by health insurance. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 60 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Our philosophy and practice is to offer a
2 full continuum of care that may include licensed
3 detoxification, rehabilitation, halfway house and
4 outpatient services.
5 For so many reasons clients may seek
6 treatment a number of times, may leave against medical
7 advice, or may not be ready for treatment.
8 We seek to reach out to those clients and
9 are mindful of the many barriers that they must overcome.
10 Recovery support services are available to
11 assist individuals in their recovery journey.
12 Community recovery centers, peer recovery
13 and recovery coaches are all designed to acknowledge the
14 many pathways to recovery and support long term recovery
15 from addiction.
16 Reducing barriers is essential in building
17 recovery capital and maintaining long term sobriety so
18 people can return to their jobs, their families and their
19 communities.
20 The issue of housing is a key barrier or a
21 key opportunity for our clients. We support quality
22 recovery houses in our community.
23 Woven into the fabric of recovery support
24 services are recovery houses, an essential tool in the
25 recovery tool box. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 61 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 As you've heard today, recovery houses
2 come in all forms.
3 We have worked diligently with our
4 partners, including Adult Probation and Parole and the
5 Bucks County Recovery House Association to ensure a Good
6 Housekeeping Seal of Approval for the houses that we fund
7 with the Department of Drug and Alcohol dollars.
8 We've identified one lead staff person who
9 serves on the Recovery House Association Board.
10 We fund only recovery houses who are
11 members in good standing of the Recovery House
12 Association and we conduct annual site visits as mandated
13 by the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and our
14 monitoring tool goes beyond what the department
15 requires.
16 In order to ensure client safety and
17 optimal opportunity for recovery, we contractually
18 require that recovery houses in our network agree to the
19 following:
20 Have protocols in place regarding
21 appropriate use and security of medication.
22 Have verification that residents are
23 informed in writing of all house rules, residency
24 requirements and any lease agreements upon admission.
25 Have a policy in place which promotes JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 62 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 recovery by requiring resident participation in
2 treatment, self-help groups or other recovery supports.
3 Have a policy regarding resident use of
4 alcohol or other substances.
5 Have safeguards in place to ensure the
6 safety and protection of each resident.
7 And be in compliance with all local
8 municipal ordinances.
9 In addition, recovery houses in our
10 network agree to unannounced inspections conducted by our
11 office in conjunction with Probation and Parole and
12 representatives from the Recovery House Association.
13 Most of the Recovery House Association
14 members do not receive government funding. The Recovery
15 House Association provides the structure and monitoring
16 to support structured recovery house living.
17 The Recovery House Association members
18 volunteer to be part of the association which includes
19 paying a fee, following guidelines that have been created
20 by the Recovery House Association members and sanctions
21 to those houses that are found to be using practices that
22 go against the guidelines.
23 We have a complaint and grievance
24 procedure in place where an e-mail can be sent from the
25 website and a committee made up of my office JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 63 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 representative, Probation and Parole representative and
2 other recovery house workers review the complaint or
3 grievance and take further action when warranted.
4 We are committed to working with the
5 Department of Drug and Alcohol Program, the Recovery
6 House Association, and community members to ensure the
7 highest quality recovery housing in our communities.
8 The standards recommended in House Bill
9 No. 1298 will hopefully lead to increased quality for
10 residents and for neighbors.
11 In summary, recovery houses fill a void
12 for many of our residents. We look to an ongoing
13 partnership and contractual relationship with the
14 recovery houses who offer an opportunity for safety,
15 recovery environment and support.
16 We've long ago recognized that funding
17 treatment alone is not the answer; that there is not one
18 answer to overcoming addiction.
19 We do believe though that wrapping
20 recovery supports around individuals while in treatment
21 and when they leave traditional treatment offers the best
22 chance at long term recovery.
23 Recovery houses can be crucial in building
24 a strong foundation for continued abstinence.
25 Thank you for your attention to this JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 64 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 important issue, for your support, and to the commitment
2 that you have to the citizens of Bucks County, of
3 Pennsylvania, and to the recovery community.
4 Thank you.
5 THE CHAIR: Okay, Diane. Thank you.
6 And with that I'm going to open it up for
7 questions. If any of the members have questions for any
8 of our testifiers today.
9 Representative Dean.
10 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: Thank you,
11 Mr. Chairman, for all of the organization of testimony
12 and, Representative Farry, for the legislation that
13 you're proposing.
14 I guess my first question was to
15 Mr. Pizzo.
16 In terms of just practically speaking, or
17 specifically speaking, if I run a boarding house in
18 Middletown Township versus I run a recovery house, what
19 are the regulations that I would be under in terms of the
20 safety and wellbeing of the people who live in my
21 boarding house versus the safety and wellbeing of the
22 people who live in my recovery house?
23 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: The township would have
24 the opportunity to both adopt and enforce inspections of
25 the boarding house or any sort of similar multifamily JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 65 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 dwelling, apartment houses, hotels, motels, on in most
2 cases an annual basis.
3 You're doing basic fire safety
4 inspections, making sure that all of the smoke detectors
5 are functioning, the fire alarm systems are operating,
6 that emergency exits are clearly marked, that they're not
7 obstructed in any way.
8 In the case of facilities that might have
9 cooking or plumbing, making sure that those continue to
10 function. With apartment houses oftentimes in Middletown
11 and Bensalem the inspections are done on a change of
12 tenancy.
13 So the annual lease comes due, the renter
14 moves out, a new renter moves in.
15 That apartment is inspected to make sure
16 that it meets basic health and safety codes to make sure
17 that everything, again, as to basic fire safety
18 functions.
19 Conversely, a recovery house is
20 operated -- in the case where it's being operated in a
21 single family house, the township has no more right to go
22 into that house to do an inspection than it does to go
23 into your house.
24 Under federal housing laws a family, as it
25 is defined for housing purposes and for purposes of JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 66 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 individuals with disabilities, you don't have to be
2 related by blood.
3 So the individuals residing in the house
4 can be unrelated.
5 And as long as you're sharing a single
6 kitchen or common cooking facilities, that it's not like
7 efficiency apartments, and that you are functioning as a
8 family unit, that at night everybody goes to their
9 bedroom and sleeps and during the day everybody gathers
10 around the kitchen table to eat, or retires to the den to
11 watch TV, you're a family.
12 And in those instances, the township no
13 more in theory wants to go into that house than it does
14 any other house to make sure that what's going on there
15 completely and entirely complies with code.
16 But what the township has experienced over
17 the years is, again, in some cases a house with four
18 bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms is occupied by six or
19 seven individuals in recovery.
20 For all intent and purposes no one, again,
21 aware that it's even there functioning as a recovery
22 house.
23 There's not an inordinate number of cars
24 coming and going during the day, the number of people
25 living in the house is consistent with the size and JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 67 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 nature of the structure with the makeup of the single
2 family neighborhood.
3 When you turn around and take that same
4 house with four bedrooms, kitchen, two bathrooms and now
5 put two sets of bunk beds in each bedroom, and now that
6 house is suddenly housing 15 individuals, all of whom may
7 have or some of whom may have cars, it now changes the
8 nature and complexity of that structure within the
9 neighborhood both in terms of the impact on the number of
10 people coming and going, the number of cars, the general
11 activity that's seen around the house.
12 And, conversely, you now have 15 people
13 who you have to now try and get out of a house that
14 wasn't designed for that many people in a fire. Four
15 people trying to get out of a bedroom that has one
16 doorway or maybe one hallway.
17 If this were a boarding house, the
18 township would require X number of fire escapes and fire
19 extinguishers to be located at appropriate intervals and
20 exits properly marked.
21 That same structure, if it's being used as
22 a house, as a recovery home, the township doesn't get the
23 ability to go in there and do any of that.
24 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: Does that mean the
25 township might not know that's a recovery house? JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 68 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Is there no obligation to come to the
2 township and say, I'm going to be operate in my mom's old
3 five-bedroom house as a recovery house? I have no
4 obligation to tell the township that?
5 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: No more than you're
6 obligated to tell the township that you're moving into a
7 house with your husband and children.
8 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: But in this case
9 it's for the exchange of commerce, though. There's money
10 being paid, you know, whether it's sort of leasehold or
11 whatever we call it.
12 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: That is one of the more
13 frustrating aspects for neighboring property home owners
14 to understand in those cases where the recovery home has
15 become a source of contention within the neighborhood.
16 Why is it not a commercial endeavor? Why
17 are they not treated as a commercial property rather than
18 a residential property and, therefore, not allow in the
19 first place because of zoning?
20 Or why aren't they held to the standards
21 that we talked about for an apartment or a boarding house
22 or a nightclub or a whatever as opposed to a single
23 family residence.
24 The answer is because the law says you
25 treat it as a house. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 69 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: Okay.
2 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: So when you first move
3 in, in most townships in Lower Bucks County you get a use
4 and occupancy permit.
5 The property is inspected for the purposes
6 of issuance of a use and occupancy permit and after that
7 you can live in that house for the next 3 0 years without
8 the township ever setting foot in it again.
9 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: Thank you very much.
10 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: Certainly.
11 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: May I ask one other
12 question of another testifier?
13 THE CHAIR: Go ahead.
14 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: I believe it's Amy,
15 the researcher.
16 I was interested in your research, in
17 particular I guess you said that you focused on 25
18 participating houses in Philadelphia out of more than
19 2 00, maybe as many as 3 00.
20 AMY MERICLE: Uh-huh.
21 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: How did you come up
22 with that sampling? And does that tell you something
23 about the houses you did not have the opportunity to
24 research?
25 AMY MERICLE: Yes. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 70 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 So the sampling was kind of a surprise for
2 the study. We thought that we had lists of all the
3 recovery homes in Philadelphia because the city had
4 mapped out the recovery resources available in the City
5 of Philadelphia.
6 And there was a separate list that we used
7 that was kept by the Philadelphia Association of Recovery
8 Residences. And like I said in the testimony, those
9 lists together came up out to about 300 houses.
10 However, when we started to call the
11 houses to verify that sampling frame, we found that many
12 of the houses had closed, many of the houses had changed
13 from serving males to serving females.
14 So I think the Philadelphia, the
15 Department of Office of Addiction Services did a
16 fantastic job doing that mapping study, but the landscape
17 of recovery homes in Philadelphia changes so frequently
18 that it's really hard to keep a pulse on how many houses
19 there are, where they're located, and the types of
20 clients that they're serving.
21 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: And my other thought
22 is, have you had a chance to look sort of backward and
23 look to the future in terms of numbers?
24 I think everybody testifying here tells us
25 that this is on the increase, that drug and alcohol JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 71 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 addiction is something that is epidemic, particularly the
2 prescription drug epidemic that I think is so relevant
3 and tragic for our youth, our young people.
4 So the need for good treatment programs
5 and adequate and safe recovery houses is only on the
6 increase. Do you see that also in Philadelphia?
7 AMY MERICLE: Yes. We see that the need
8 is on the increase.
9 However, what we found in our study was
10 that the number of houses was actually declining; that
11 many houses that were on that list had closed and were no
12 longer operating.
13 So as the need is increasing -- I mean,
14 the need has been great for decades and it is increasing,
15 but the resources available to address that need are
16 still insufficient.
17 REPRESENTATIVE DEAN: Thank you, Amy.
18 Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
19 THE CHAIR: Amy, could you just real
20 quick, one quick question.
21 Have you found on recovery houses any
22 effect on the quality of number because of the general
23 assistance cuts that were put into effect last year by
24 the State of Pennsylvania?
25 AMY MERICLE: Yeah. So we didn't study JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 72 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 that specifically, although our study took place around
2 the same time that cuts were affected.
3 So I think that there probably was a
4 relationship, but like I said, we didn't, you know, ask
5 the operators specifically why their houses were closing
6 or what happened. So I can't say definitively.
7 THE CHAIR: I'd like to qualify that.
8 I've been told and heard from a number of
9 sources that those general assistance payments, although
10 there wasn't a whole lot of money, that a lot of people
11 that were seeking treatment or in recovery were using
12 that money to help pay the recovery houses payments.
13 So from what I'm hearing, it's had a
14 pretty big effect.
15 AMY MERICLE: Yes. I think that you're
16 correct, that the general assistance funds did help
17 defray cost of housing and that it has made it more
18 difficult for people who need housing in recovery to get
19 housing and as a result it's possible that houses have
20 closed.
21 THE CHAIR: Okay. Thank you.
22 For Joe Pizzo, just a quick question, Joe.
23 You mentioned two types of recovery
24 houses, for-profit and not-for-profit.
25 From your experience, have you seen any JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 73 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 difference between the for-profit and the not-for-profit
2 in the number of complaints or problems that each one has
3 gotten in the townships that you've been solicitor?
4 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: I have not. But that's
5 certainly not a scientific sampling by any stretch of the
6 imagination.
7 What I would caution, because I don't want
8 to inadvertently paint an inaccurate picture, we do have
9 instances in those townships that I've represented and do
10 represent where the operators of group homes do come and
11 contact the township and do, A, make us aware of their
12 presence and, B, do invite the township in to inspect to
13 make sure that the structure meets fire codes primarily,
14 to make sure that their residents can safely be evacuated
15 in the event of an emergency, particularly a fire in the
16 house.
17 And so it's -- and that's meaningful for
18 the township.
19 And Representative Farry can probably
20 speak to it a little better than I can, we had an
21 incident in Middletown a few years ago where a house in
22 Levittown was being operated as a recovery home.
23 There were, I believe 14, that's the
24 number I understand, individuals in recovery who were
25 residing in that house. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 74 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 A fire occurred.
2 The first responders were not aware, had
3 no idea as to the number of people that were living in
4 the house or how the house was being used.
5 And you're creating a situation not only
6 where the lives of the residents are being unnecessarily
7 put at risk, but the lives of the first responders as
8 well.
9 Because you're not prepared when you first
10 get there for a fire that may have up to 14 people living
11 in the house.
12 And, obviously, the demands on the first
13 responders are significantly different when you know that
14 you are going to be battling an apartment house fire or a
15 boarding house fire than a fire where you only anticipate
16 four, five, six people, maybe a dog and a cat.
17 So that is meaningful. That information
18 is meaningful to the people who will be responding in
19 terms of police and fire as to what they might anticipate
20 in an emergency situation at that house as well.
21 Again, there is no obligation, however,
22 but we do find particularly for group homes that house
23 individuals with disabilities that are of a more physical
24 nature where those individuals may have difficulty
25 getting out of the house in an emergency. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 75 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 The operators of those homes are obviously
2 more than happy to have the township involved in helping
3 to facilitate a fire safety plan, making sure that the
4 house meets fire codes on a regular basis to ensure the
5 safety of their residents.
6 THE CHAIR: Representative O'Neill.
7 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Thank you.
8 Thank you for being here, Joe. I have
9 several questions, but since you're sitting there, in
10 answering Representative Dean's, some of her questions
11 you said it's a matter of law.
12 Were you referring to federal law or state
13 law?
14 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: Federal law is
15 interpreted by the courts both of this Commonwealth and
16 at the federal level, the Supreme Court.
17 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: So it could be
18 some federal civil rights ruling or something that is
19 prohibiting townships and so forth from doing this?
20 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: That's correct.
21 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Well, you're
22 probably going to say no, but I'll ask you the question
23 anyway.
24 Would the state be able to enact laws to
25 govern safety issues and that sort of thing in regulating JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 76 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 this without violating that civil law -- or that federal
2 law or ruling?
3 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: I believe so. The test
4 I believe the courts will apply is whether the regulation
5 is content neutral both on its face and in its
6 application.
7 When a municipality is taking a zoning
8 ordinance or a building ordinance and through its
9 application of that ordinance creating a de facto
10 prohibition from that facility from locating within the
11 township or within a neighborhood within the township,
12 the courts have looked at that with a very, very
13 jaundiced eye and said no, no.
14 On its face it may be content neutral but
15 in fact you are discriminating.
16 In terms of the legislation that
17 Representative Farry is introducing, we're not talking
18 about stopping anyone from locating anywhere.
19 What we're saying is, is that the nature
20 of this use, the nature of the use of this single family
21 home or the nature of this use in this neighborhood is
22 such that it puts, A, additional demands on the resources
23 of the township, but more importantly, there are a class
24 of individuals who will be residing in that house,
25 individuals with disability who are a protected class and JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 77 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 who are, I believe, in need of the protections that these
2 regulations afford to make sure that where they are
3 living is safe and habitable; that that can't be viewed
4 as being discriminatory.
5 And, in fact, if anything it should be
6 viewed as seeking to advance the purposes. The need for
7 the recovery homes I don't think anyone can dispute as
8 you've heard from the testimony today.
9 The ability to transition individuals out
10 of treatment and out of the judicial system back into
11 society, putting them back where they came from in the
12 first place, would seem to be an indication that the
13 behavior or the demons, if you will, that led to the
14 addiction in the first place will probably be found there
15 again.
16 And thus the recovery home becomes a
17 transition, a way to transition out of the system but
18 also away from those areas where the problems arose in
19 the first place.
20 So the need is clearly there.
21 The issue becomes, again, that in the
22 course of the operating of these facilities there are,
23 just like any other business of any other nature, there
24 are those who operate facilities that are above board and
25 go the extra mile and there are those who clearly see a JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 78 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 profit motive at the end.
2 And those are the instances -- and there
3 may be other reasons as well for taking and maybe just
4 getting one or two extra beds in that house, maybe
5 getting one or two extra people in that facility, and the
6 township has no ability to turn around and say -- or I
7 shouldn't say no -- but very limited ability to say no,
8 you can't do that or no, if you're going to have this
9 many people in here it requires this, this and this.
10 And in those instances where the township
11 maybe want to dig in and say we're going to require this,
12 the township at least knows at the outset that it's
13 staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.
14 That the township will likely find itself
15 going in front of the PHRC or the EEOC or straight to
16 state or federal court on the basis that we are
17 discriminating against either that facility or the
18 individuals in it.
19 And that becomes the conundrum here if you
20 will. Because the township can't do all of those police
21 powers that I read to you at the start of my statement
22 for fear of finding itself on the wrong end of the
23 lawsuit.
24 It may not be a lawsuit that we lose but,
25 again, it comes at a cost to the township. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 79 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Any time the township finds itself on the
2 opposite end of a lawsuit, there is -- there is a cost
3 both in real dollars and in terms of everything else that
4 comes with being sued.
5 So Representative Farry's legislation I
6 would hope is going to give the township and perhaps the
7 state, however it all comes out in the wash, the ability
8 to say that at a minimum where a recovery home is being
9 operated, these housing code, these property maintenance
10 code, these fire code requirements have to be met
11 irrespective whether that structure is a single family
12 home located in the middle of Levittown or a row home
13 located in a neighborhood in Philadelphia or a farmhouse
14 located in the center of Lancaster County.
15 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Thank you.
16 And I guess I would be correct in stating
17 that if House Bill 1298 does become law, the department
18 does regulate recovery houses in an applicable manner
19 that provides safety for those living there and the
20 residents and so forth, and giving the township the
21 authority to make sure it's safe, that the local
22 authorities would not be permitted to say you can't have
23 a recovery house next to an elementary school, you can't
24 have it next to a playground, you can't have it next to a
25 bar, you know, because people in the recovery house JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 80 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 they're trying to recover from such things so it doesn't
2 make any sense having it next to a bar where they would
3 be tempted.
4 Would I be correct in stating that, that
5 his bill would not give the local department the ability
6 to do that, to give the township those authorities?
7 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: I'm certainly not the
8 author of the bill, but I don't believe that it would. I
9 believe your statement is consistent.
10 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: I was just
11 thinking the federal government would probably shoot that
12 down.
13 Okay. Great. Thank you. I appreciate
14 it.
15 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: Sure.
16 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: I have a few more
17 questions if I can.
18 Not for Joe. Thank you, Joe.
19 JOSEPH W. PIZZO: Thank you.
20 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Someone can
21 correct me if I'm wrong. I'm one of those people who was
22 ignorant when I walked in here about the difference
23 between a halfway house and a recovery house.
24 From listening to the definitions, am I
25 correct in saying a recovery house is specifically for JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 81 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 recovery and treatment from some sort of substance abuse
2 and a halfway house is a facility for those who have been
3 adjudicated or in the system in some way; is that
4 correct?
5 THE CHAIR: I'll let Ted come up and
6 answer that.
7 TED MILLARD: In Bucks County there are
8 two halfway houses. That's all. One is called Good
9 Friends, Incorporated. That's based in Falls Township,
10 Pennsylvania.
11 One is called Liberte, Incorporated, which
12 is based in Bensalem Township. Two halfway houses in
13 Bucks County.
14 Everything else you're talking about
15 today, everything else in that packet is talking about a
16 recovery house.
17 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: I understand
18 that, but that wasn't my question. What I'm trying to
19 get at is, is a halfway house strictly dealing with those
20 who have been adjudicated and in the system?
21 TED MILLARD: In Pennsylvania, a drug and
22 alcohol halfway house is a licensed treatment facility;
23 whereas a recovery house is not licensed and is not a
24 treatment facility.
25 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: So theoretically JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 82 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 someone who's seeking substance abuse recovery could be
2 in either a halfway house that deals with that or a
3 recovery house?
4 TED MILLARD: If a person is assessed by
5 law in this state through the Pennsylvania Client
6 Placement Criteria they can be assessed to go to
7 inpatient, outpatient, halfway house, all of the realm of
8 the criteria that was referenced by Gary Tennis.
9 That does not include recovery housing.
10 It is not an assessed treatment provider or location.
11 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: That would lead
12 down to the road a few more questions then. Staffing.
13 Are recovery houses required to have
14 24-hour staffing professionals on the premises? Do they
15 do the actual recovery in the house, or do they go
16 somewhere else to do it and it's just a housing unit?
17 What is -
18 TED MILLARD: Shall I refer to the
19 solicitor's comments who basically said a house has been
20 treated as a family unit. So a family unit does not
21 require anything.
22 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Okay. And your
23 two halfway houses in Bucks County that are drug
24 treatment facilities, are they required, since you're
25 licensed, to have the fire inspections and safety and all JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 83 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 that sort of thing?
2 TED MILLARD: On an annual basis the code
3 enforcement officer will come in and look at everything
4 from our ovens to our electrical system to our pull boxes
5 and to everything else that we have.
6 Just like any other business that gets
7 regulated in the township.
8 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Great. Well, I
9 think that's important to have that on the record then.
10 Thank you. I appreciate that.
11 You may be able to answer this question.
12 Representative Davis asked me to ask this question on her
13 behalf.
14 Are recovery houses -- and I'm assuming
15 the answer is no from what I'm hearing -- are recovery
16 houses employees required to have any employee or
17 resident background checks?
18 TED MILLARD: I'm assuming, again, I'll
19 refer to the solicitor, his comments would seem to tell
20 us that it's a family house, single house unit.
21 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Okay.
22 TED MILLARD: Speaking of, again, the
23 testimony here talked about and I -- what a passionate
24 council person, it's great to have it, but when it comes
25 up to have 42, you know, the township -- I think the JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 84 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 quote was we are being inundated with halfway houses.
2 In your packet there's a comment, written
3 comment from a citizen who talks about halfway houses.
4 It would be great if we could get under
5 the impression that this bill and what the topic of this
6 bill is recovery housing; whereas halfway houses are a
7 licensed treatment program.
8 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Thank you.
9 TED MILLARD: It's hard as we talked about
10 in my testimony to get there, but I appreciate the idea
11 that one day we will get there.
12 REPRESENTATIVE O'NEILL: Great. Thank you
13 very much.
14 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
15 THE CHAIR: I would also like to recognize
16 Pat Mallon, who's the chairman of the board of
17 supervisors of Middletown.
18 Pat, if maybe I could ask you to come up
19 and just say hello and address the committee.
20 PAT MALLON: Sure. Well, first off, as
21 you know, my name's Pat Mallon. I'm chairman of the
22 Middletown Board of Supervisors. And on behalf of
23 Middletown, welcome to Middletown.
24 I want to thank you for coming here today
25 and I want to thank you for taking on this issue. Very, JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 85 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 very frustrating to deal with at a local government level
2 and I appreciate what Representative Farry has done.
3 He and I were pretty much at the epicenter
4 of this issue in Middletown, and some of the questions
5 that Mr. O'Neill raised are some of the questions that
6 both our residents raise and I raised.
7 You know, this has been a topic at several
8 of our public board of supervisors meetings. I also held
9 meetings in the public with some of the residents that
10 had concerns.
11 And my biggest concern, and I believe that
12 the true concern of our residents is, we all recognize
13 the fact that these facilities are needed.
14 We all recognize the fact that there are
15 people that are addicted to prescription drugs, alcohol,
16 and other intoxicants and addictive substances.
17 The issue and the concern that I have is
18 there's no governance. There's no governance. I could
19 leave here today with no background in any kind of mental
20 health, health care, addictions, and set up a recovery
21 home.
22 And, you know, you were elected and I was
23 elected for one reason, and that is to serve our
24 community and serve our constituents, and it's very
25 frustrating when you have an issue -- and it's JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 86 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 frustrating not just for our residents, but to me it's
2 frustrating for the residents of these facilities.
3 Because I cannot look our citizens in the
4 eye and say that I'm doing my job to, one, protect them
5 and, two, to protect those individuals that are in these
6 recovery homes, because there is no governance.
7 And we have tried and Solicitor Pizzo
8 mentioned that, you know, we could be called in front of
9 a court or a hearing with the Pennsylvania Human Services
10 Commission. And we were. And we were.
11 And we were called in front of them and we
12 spent taxpayer money to defend that case because we
13 issued a housing permit. Not because we didn't issue a
14 housing permit.
15 We issued the housing permit. But we
16 asked some questions. And we required the builder and
17 the owner of this recovery home to make some adjustments.
18 Why? To protect our citizens and to
19 protect the individuals that were in the recovery home.
20 We still got called to court. We still had to pay
21 taxpayer money to defend ourselves.
22 So it is a difficult issue. It is a
23 challenging issue. I applaud all of you for your efforts
24 and your interest.
25 Again, it's a situation that I agree and I JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 87 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 know you agree requires these facilities to be in place,
2 but they should only be in place if they are, one,
3 helping the individuals that are there and, two,
4 protecting the residents that live within their
5 proximity.
6 And I don't feel as a government official
7 that the way the law is constructed today that we can -
8 and I mean we as a governing body both at the local
9 level, state level and federal level can say that.
10 That's all I wanted to say. Thank you.
11 THE CHAIR: Okay. Pat, thank you.
12 Any of the other members have any
13 questions?
14 Representative Kinsey.
15 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Amy, do you want
16 to come back up here, please.
17 I just have a few questions.
18 I believe in the executive summary that we
19 received the second paragraph states, Recovery residents
20 are sober, safe and healthy living environments that
21 promote recovery from AOD use and associated problems.
22 With that in mind, and you talked about
23 doing the sampling study in the City of Philadelphia, I
24 think it was for 25 homes. Specific to that sampling
25 study, I just have some questions. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 88 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 The first question is, you know, when I
2 hear about recovery residents being sober, safe and
3 healthy living environments -- so part of my question is
4 staff training.
5 Was that documented or noted in the study
6 that you conducted? And I'm asking that question because
7 it seems to be that it's not a licensed facility so who
8 mandates, regulates, offers the training for those
9 individuals?
10 AMY MERICLE: That's a very good question.
11 Because recovery residences don't necessarily have to
12 have staff. So there's some recovery residences, for
13 example, Oxford Houses that are known to be staff-free.
14 They are run by the residents, it's a
15 community that they live together, they govern
16 themselves, but there are also different types of
17 recovery residences that do have staff members.
18 And there's a continuum of staff oversight
19 that could be implemented in these houses. Most houses
20 in Philadelphia do have some amount of staffing.
21 The houses in our study, I think that all
22 of them had some staff member, either a paid staff member
23 who was there during the day, some had multiple staff
24 members.
25 But by definition, recovery residences JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 89 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 don't necessarily have to have staff members.
2 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: So who would make
3 that determination as to whether or not to staff or -
4 who makes that determination to staff or not to staff?
5 AMY MERICLE: So there is a growing
6 movement for recovery residences to become self monitored
7 and supervised.
8 So, for example, in Philadelphia, there's
9 the Philadelphia Association of Recovery Residences and
10 the Office of Addiction Services has developed standards
11 for houses.
12 So in the Philadelphia Association of
13 Recovery Residence guidelines, if they want to be a
14 Level 2 home, they do have to have staff members.
15 Different houses who have different
16 services delivered would have more staff members. And
17 it's basically determined based on the needs of the
18 residents.
19 In Philadelphia the Office of Addiction
20 Services also provides training for recovery home
21 operators.
22 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: I think you also
23 talked earlier in regards to with that study help -- I
24 believe that there was a perception, a stigma and a
25 perception. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 90 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 And then I'm also hearing from other
2 testifiers that there's not a requirement to notify
3 neighbors or such that there's a recovery home there.
4 So I guess my question leads to since the
5 stigma and perception exists, was there any indication in
6 your study that showed that the owner or operator or even
7 the folks that were part of that recovery home reached
8 out to the community either to make them aware that they
9 were a recovery home, there was a recovery home there, or
10 even just to have some type of interaction with the
11 neighbors to try to change that stigma or perception?
12 Did you find that?
13 AMY MERICLE: That's a really good
14 question, too.
15 So we found that a lot of homes did
16 proactively try to engage the community; that they made
17 sure that they were out shoveling snow; that they were
18 picking up trash; that they were a positive force in the
19 community.
20 But we also found houses that, you know,
21 wanted to keep a low profile. They didn't want folks to
22 know that they were a recovery home because they were
23 concerned about possible backlash.
24 So, you know, these two competing
25 strategies that these recovery home operators had to, you JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 91 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 know, choose from in order to keep their house open.
2 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Okay. My last
3 question is, one of the testifiers had talked about -- in
4 fact, it was Diane Rosati -- who shared with us that for
5 the, I think the recovery homes that are under Bucks
6 County Drug and Alcohol Commission, that they basically
7 set some contractual requirements, and I think there were
8 six bullets that were listed.
9 So I want to thank you, Diane, for sharing
10 that.
11 And I guess my question to you is that,
12 that appears to me it sort of set some type of standard,
13 even though the municipalities may not necessarily be
14 able to, but Diane's organization was able to set some
15 standards for their members.
16 In your study were there certain
17 standards, did you see certain similarities in regards to
18 like having certain protocols, you know, the house rules,
19 residency requirements, or policies in place?
20 Did you see that standard also? Because,
21 again, I think that is necessary to have some type of
22 standards that folks operate by as opposed to having each
23 individually arbitrarily choose what they will and will
24 not do.
25 So in your studies, did you find the JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 92 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 similarities or some protocols in place that was sort
2 of the standard -
3 AMY MERICLE: Yes. We specifically asked
4 houses whether or not they had rules and regulations
5 about residents using services on the site, off the site,
6 whether or not they had rules of residents participating
7 in house meetings, things like that.
8 And most houses did have rules and
9 procedures in place. And I think that's to the credit of
10 the Office of Addiction Services in Philadelphia who does
11 the training on recovery residences.
12 But I also want to share the floor
13 hopefully with Fred Way, who is the director of the
14 Philadelphia Association of Recovery Residences, PARR,
15 and the vice president of the National Association of
16 Recovery Residences that developed the standards that the
17 Philadelphia Association of Recovery Residences adopted.
18 So if Fred could come up and talk about
19 those standards, that might help clarify some of your
20 questions.
21 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Sure. And I guess
22 clearly what I'm leading to or what I'm getting at is, if
23 those members did not follow those practices or
24 guidelines, then what would be -- you know, what would be
25 the result if they just simply again arbitrarily chose to JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 93 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 not follow those guidelines and just do it their way?
2 Were there any type of -
3 FRED WAY: Any kind of infractions?
4 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Yes.
5 FRED WAY: No. Okay. In Philadelphia you
6 have -- for instance, the gentleman who asked about
7 24-hour staff supervision.
8 Okay. In Philadelphia that would be a
9 Level 2 house. Okay? That's a monitored house which are
10 run typical by OAS. Okay? Which is 24-hour staff
11 supervision 365 days a year, but that's also a funded
12 house. Okay?
13 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: I'm sorry. You
14 said it is funded?
15 FRED WAY: It's a funded house, right.
16 Philadelphia has 18 funded houses that the Office of
17 Addiction -
18 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: These are recovery
19 homes that are funded?
20 FRED WAY: Yes. Yes, they are recovery
21 homes.
22 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Okay. Level 2, is
23 this -- I'm looking at this page.
24 FRED WAY: The National Standards.
25 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: It goes from JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 94 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 Level 1 to Level 4?
2 FRED WAY: Level 4, right.
3 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Okay. I didn't
4 realize there was funding -- I didn't realize that they
5 were funded.
6 FRED WAY: Yes. 18 out of, you know, 300
7 houses in Philadelphia are funded.
8 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Were funded. So
9 the other -
10 FRED WAY: Are unfunded.
11 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Are unfunded. So
12 the other -
13 FRED WAY: Self maintained.
14 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Okay.
15 FRED WAY: Client fees, food stamps, you
16 know.
17 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Who decides which
18 property gets funded versus which ones do not get funded
19 then?
20 FRED WAY: Well, about 10 years, 10, 15
21 years ago the office, which used to be called CODAP,
22 okay, did an RFP for the recovery house contracts.
23 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Okay.
24 FRED WAY: And most of those houses -- it
25 started out with 21. Now it's down to 18. JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 95 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: So, again, then I
2 can just go and say I want to open up a recovery home,
3 and if I'm going to utilize the clients who I'm going to
4 provide who are going to live there, I can just more or
5 less charge them a fee, open up a recovery home
6 unlicensed and just simply say that's my business?
7 FRED WAY: Unfunded, yes.
8 REPRESENTATIVE KINSEY: Unfunded, right.
9 THE CHAIR: We're going to have the last
10 question, quick question from Representative Frank Farry.
11 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: Fred, you guys have
12 a voluntary certification program, correct, that you do
13 in Philadelphia?
14 FRED WAY: Yes. Yes.
15 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: I was wondering if
16 it was possible maybe you can forward us the
17 documentation, like the standards to get the
18 certifications in Philadelphia.
19 FRED WAY: Do you want the standards or
20 the inspection sheet that we use?
21 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: Both would be great
22 actually.
23 FRED WAY: Okay.
24 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: Because I think
25 that will be helpful in the event that this becomes law; JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 96 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 maybe the regulations that are enacted by Department of
2 Drugs and Alcohol can actually model them after what you
3 do in Philadelphia.
4 FRED WAY: Sure. I mean, with the thing
5 about it right now, it's also crossing the state. Okay?
6 I have houses in Pottstown, and Harrisburg and Pittsburgh
7 has contacted me also.
8 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: I read the article
9 in the Inquirer about six weeks ago or whatever. So that
10 was a good article and good work you're doing. So thank
11 you.
12 FRED WAY: You're welcome. Thank you.
13 REPRESENTATIVE FARRY: I would just like
14 to thank everybody. Thank, Middletown, again for hosting
15 us here today and I want to thank everybody for their
16 testimony. I thought it was a very good hearing.
17 THE CHAIR: And if I could just wrap up
18 real quick. Again, as Frank said, thank you to everybody
19 who was here today.
20 And just a couple of sentences from
21 testimony that's in your packet from Deb Beck, who is
22 the director of the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers
23 Association. I think it's really important.
24 Although people with alcohol and other
25 drug addictions come from all walks of life and JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 97 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 socioeconomic sectors, some will always be in need of
2 supportive, sober housing after completion of treatment
3 for addiction in a licensed treatment programs, including
4 inpatient hospital, inpatient nonhospital and licensed
5 halfway houses.
6 For this group, transition to sober living
7 recovery houses is extremely helpful in stabilizing early
8 recovery as they continue treatment in outpatient,
9 maintain AA and NA attendance and begin work or job
10 searches.
11 And I think we heard a lot of really,
12 really good testimony today. One of the things I think
13 was important for the committee to hear is the
14 distinction or difference between a halfway house and a
15 recovery house.
16 And I thought many of the members were
17 unclear about that one issue. So it's important that we
18 learned that.
19 I also think it's important, you know, I
20 hear from Amber and Pat and, you know, I hear your
21 passion and, you know, about how you want to protect your
22 community, and we understand that.
23 And I think what we need to do now is take
24 Representative Farry's bill, take what we heard today,
25 and try to strike a balance between, you know, you JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 98 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 protecting your communities and also allowing these
2 recovery houses in your communities, because they're
3 really needed.
4 I mean, we just absolutely have an
5 epidemic out there especially of prescription drug and
6 opiate abuse and addiction and a heroin problem out
7 there.
8 So these recovery houses and halfway
9 houses are absolutely needed, and what we want to try to
10 do is strike a balance between, you know, protecting the
11 community and the need in the community.
12 So we're going to take the testimony we
13 heard from you. Thank you again. We're going to take
14 that back and hopefully come up with a good bill that we
15 hope to get passed in the legislature.
16 Again, thank you, and everybody have a
17 great day.
18 (Proceedings concluded at 12:00 noon.)
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25 JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC 99 PUBLIC HEARING, 10/8/2013
1 CERTIFICATION
2
3
4 I, BARBARA McKEON QUINN, a Registered
5 Merit Reporter and Notary Public in and for the
6 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, hereby certify that the
7 foregoing is a true and accurate transcript of the
8 hearing by me on the date and place herein before set
9 forth.
10 I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am neither
11 attorney nor counsel for, not related to nor employed by
12 any of the parties to the action in which this hearing
13 was taken; and further that I am not a relative or
14 employee of any attorney or counsel employed in this
15 action, nor am I financially interested in this case.
16
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19 tOoooooOoi u y O t / oOoOOoOOOoOOOo 20 BARBARA McKEON QUINN Registered Merit Reporter and Notary Public 21
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25 JAMES DeCRESCENZO REPORTING, LLC