BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2491 (Nestande) - Substance abuse: adult recovery maintenance
facilities.
Amended: July 1, 2014 Policy Vote: Health 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2491 would require the Department of Health
Care Services to license and regulate adult recovery maintenance
facilities.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time costs of up to $1.4 million to develop policies,
develop and adopt regulations, and make information
technology changes to facilitate licensing (General Fund).
Ongoing costs up to $6.5 million per year to process
license applications and renewals, conduct site visits, and
take enforcement actions (Residential and Outpatient
Licensing Fund or a new special fund). The total number of
adult recovery maintenance facilities operating in the state
is not known. The Department of Health Care Services
estimates that there are up to 2,000 facilities in the state
that could be subject to licensure under this bill. The
preceding cost estimate is based on 2,000 licensed
facilities. In practice, the scope of the licensing program
will depend on the number of licensees (plus enforcement
actions against unlicensed providers).
Background: Under current law, the Department of Health Care
Services licenses and regulates alcohol or drug abuse recovery
or treatment facilities. Recovery or treatment facilities
provide 24-hour, non-medical residential services to adults.
Under current law, adult recovery maintenance facilities
(sometimes referred to as sober living homes) are not licensed
by state or local governments. Typically, these facilities are
located in residential neighborhoods and may not be licensed as
AB 2491 (Nestande)
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a business by a local government. Adult recovery maintenance
facilities do not provide direct services, such as one-on-one
counselling. Rather, they provide a sober living place for
several individuals who are recovering from alcohol or drug
abuse and wish to live in a drug and alcohol free living
arrangement.
Proposed Law: AB 2491 would require the Department of Health
Care Services to license and regulate adult recovery maintenance
facilities.
Specific provisions of the bill would:
Require the Department of Health Care Services to adopt
emergency regulations governing the licensing and operation
of adult recovery maintenance facilities, including fees to
be paid by licensees by July 1, 2016;
Define adult recovery maintenance facility - including a
prohibition on providing professional recovery or treatment
services;
Require licensing to commence no later than January 1,
2017.
Related Legislation:
SB 992 (Wiggins, 2008) was substantially similar to this
bill. That bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
AB 2335 (Mansoor) would have defined sober living homes in
statute and exempted sober living homes from licensure as
recovery or treatment facilities. That bill failed passage
in the Assembly Health Committee;
AB 2374 (Mansoor) would require residential treatment
facilities to report resident deaths and other events in a
timely fashion and would make changes to the requirements
for registering counselors. That bill will be heard in this
committee.
Staff Comments: The total number of adult recovery maintenance
facilities, sober living homes, or similar entities in the state
is not known. According to the Department, there are two private
entities that register sober living homes. Collectively, they
have registered about 850 sober living homes in the state.
However, these organizations have indicated that they may be
registering as few as one-third of the total number of sober
living homes in the state.
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