Friday 9:37 AM June 15, 2001

Thiele and LaValle sponsor Sober House Legislation

Not thwarted by the last year's failure to successfully lobby for the enactment of a Sober House Regulation law on the Suffolk County level, Grace Ioannidis, president of the Citizen's Action Coalition, along with a troop of diligent volunteers continued their quest on the New York State level.

"Let us remember as a community that a home is not just a financial transaction. It defines who you are and what kind of community you live in. Sober houses are seriously impacting our neighborhood," Ioannidis said at a press conference to announce that state Assemblyman Fred Thiele and state Senator Ken LaValle are sponsoring sober house legislation.

"It is important to recognize that there are existing treatment centers that run reputable, supervised sober homes, successfully meeting the needs of clients without negatively impacting the surrounding community," LaValle said. "It is unfortunate that these quality programs have been tainted by those who chose to inundate individual neighborhoods, seriously impacting the quality of life and placing vulnerable clients at risk in unsupervised, overcrowded and sometimes dangerous living conditions. I am hopeful that our legislation would put an end to unscrupulous business practices by those who put the importance of making a dollar before the safety and welfare of clients and the neighboring community."
According to Ioannidis there are 41 sober houses, residential group houses for alcoholics, drug treatment and support services, within a 4.5 mile radius in the Mastics and Shirley. "Communities like the Mastics, Shirley and Ridge, just to name a few throughout Suffolk County, are being singled out and overwhelmed with the number of houses that are operating as sober houses," Ioannidis explained.

Since the closing of the Social Service Center in Shirley, the enactment of a rental law in the Town of Brookhaven, and the overall shortage of affordable housing throughout Long Island, the tri-hamlet communities of the Mastics and Shirley have experienced a renewal. Where once there were rows of boarded up houses, there are tidy lawns and newly painted homes indicative of the pride of ownership.

However, many quiet residential blocks are home to group sober houses. Recently, two residents of a North Shirley sober house became embroiled in an argument, which resulted in a stabbing. Police said that drinking was involved and there wasn't a supervisor on duty that evening. Neighborhood protests led to the voluntary closing of that facility.
In the past few years, batches of homes have been purchased by companies which operate sober homes and the treatment of the clients. These companies have long waiting lists for clients needing housing before their sometimes court-ordered treatment for addiction is completed.

Consequently, some of these houses, many of them three-bedroom units, are occupied by over a dozen clients. Because these houses are not considered rental units, but rather treatment facilities, they slip past the newly enacted Brookhaven Town rental laws.
"These residents need services," Suffolk County Legislator Fred Towle said. "We are not against their treatment but no one community should be over-burdened and they must be regulated and inspected for the sake of the community and the clients."
Last year Towle sponsored a resolution which called for a site selection process prior to granting approval of a sober facility. The county could reserve the right to object to a particular site if there were similar facilities within a two-square-mile area. Under that resolution, which was passed by the Legislature but vetoed by County Executive Robert Gaffney, sober houses would be licensed by the county Department of Health Services. Additionally the law called for at least one trained social worker living on site 24-hours-a-day, and no more than six individuals receiving sober house services in each home.
According to Thiele, Article 32 of the state Mental Hygiene Law regulates the quality of services provided to persons suffering from chemical dependency, and also grants authority to the state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services to issue operating certificates to community facilities providing care, custody and treatment to such persons.

Thiele said that since the statue does not clearly define sober houses as community residences, the law needs to be amended to require these facilities to operate under the same regulations as any other drug and alcohol treatment facility.

In an attempt to remedy this inadequacy, Thiele and LaValle's bill would require sober houses to obtain an operating certificate from OASAS. In addition, this legislation requires the operator of a sober house to : demonstrate a local need for such a facility; establish character, competence and financial standing; ensure the adequacy of the premises and services to be provided; and comply with all federal, state and local laws.
Brookhaven Town Supervisor John Jay LaValle said "I am in favor of any legislation that gives more jurisdiction to the town and its residents as to where the sites of these houses will be located."

Ioannidis said the CAC approached Thiele last April in an attempt to regulate the proliferation of sober houses, after the county resolution was vetoed. "Our main objective is to make government and the community aware of the issue, pass a bill to protect both the residents of these sober houses and have proper distribution, licensing and regulations throughout the county."

The CAC has formed a working committee which assisted to formulate the law and to lobby for the law's passage in Albany.

"Now is the time for the state to restore the quality of life in our community with the passage of this bill," Ioannidis said. "When the state did away with large institutions that assisted these individuals, there was no consideration of the future impact upon our neighborhoods."