BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2255
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2255 (Melendez) - As Amended April 26, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes state oversight of "drug and alcohol free
residences" or sober living homes. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "drug and alcohol free residence" to mean a residential
AB 2255
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property that is operated as a cooperative living arrangement to
provide an alcohol and drug free environment for persons
recovering from alcoholism or drug abuse, or both, who seek a
living environment in which to remain clean and sober.
2)Specifies a drug and alcohol free residence may be certified by
an approved certifying organization, and specifies requirements
for a certified drug and alcohol free residence.
3)Provides a residence that houses persons who purport to be
recovering from drug and alcohol abuse must be presumed to be a
drug and alcohol free residence if the residence has been
certified by an approved certifying organization.
4)Requires an approved certifying organization to meet a number of
requirements, including, among others, affiliation with an
approved national organization, inspections of drug and alcohol
free residences to ensure compliance with certification
requirements, and ensuring operators meet specified standards
and submit specified documents.
5)Requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to adopt
application procedures and standards of approval for an
organization that seeks to be approved by the department as an
approved certifying organization.
6)Allows the department to revoke approval of an approved
certifying organization, and to revoke the certification of a
residence as a drug and alcohol free residence.
7)Allows the department to investigate complaints, impose
sanctions, and commence disciplinary actions (unspecified).
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8)Requires the department to maintain and post on its website a
registry containing specified contact information for each
certified facility.
This bill does not mandate certification, but does deem any
certified facility as a "drug and alcohol free residence" to be
overseen by the state.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Estimated GF costs to DHCS of $885,000 in 2017-18, $820,000 in
2018-19, and ongoing for seven staff to establish and oversee the
program. Staff would review compliance, including periodically
inspecting facilities, conducting complaint investigations,
perform data entry, and performing any additional oversight
requirements. Actual costs would depend on the number of homes
that maintained certification.
DHCS indicates existing information technology systems could
likely be used to meet the bill's requirements but that data entry
would be a significant cost. This cost is included in the
estimate above.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, thousands of facilities treat
former alcoholics and drug abusers, who are very susceptible to
relapse, without possessing any formal credentials. The author
states this will help people stay sober and improve community
safety.
2)Background. DHCS, formerly the Department of Drug and Alcohol
Programs, is the state oversight body for drug and alcohol
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treatment facilities and personnel. DHCS licenses substance use
treatment facilities, which provide 24-hour residential
nonmedical services to eligible adults who are recovering from
problems related to alcohol or other drug (AOD) misuse or abuse.
DHCS also offers a voluntary facility certification to both
residential and nonresidential programs. Sober living homes are
alcohol and drug free living environments for individuals
attempting to maintain abstinence from alcohol and drugs. In
contrast to alcoholism and drug abuse recovery or treatment
programs, because sober living homes are private residences and
do not offer treatment services, they are not regulated by the
state.
3)Related Legislation.
a) AB 2403 (Bloom), also pending in this committee, requires
DHCS to issue a single license to a residential or integral
alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility when
specified criteria are met, and establishes a definition for
integral facilities.
b) SB 1101 (Wieckowski) establishes new licensing
requirements for alcohol and drug counselors, and transfers
responsibilities pertaining to alcohol and drug counselor
certification and the approval and regulation of certifying
organizations from DHCS to the Department of Public Health.
SB 1101 is pending in the Senate.
4)Prior Legislation. A litany of bills has addressed the issue of
sober living homes and related issues over the last decade. Most
recently, AB 2491 (Nestande) of 2014 would have exempted sober
living homes from licensure as an adult alcoholism or drug abuse
recovery or treatment facility and required sober living homes
to meet specified requirements. AB 2491 was held on the
Suspense file of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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5)Staff Comments. As this bill does not require facilities to be
certified, it is unclear what benefit is gained from state
oversight and registration of facilities by the state in a
database. On the other hand, a requirement for certification
raises significant legal and policy concerns. Finally, the role
of state staff vis-à-vis the certifying entity is unclear. For
example, the bill specifies the state should respond to
complaints of an unspecified nature about a privately certified
entity, and it also gives the state authority to revoke a
certification it did not issue.
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)
319-2081