Grand jury report on sober home problems lacks balance, fairness
The Palm Beach Post’s Dec. 13 story, “Sober home report cites patient abuse,” accepted without question the grand jury’s “Report on the Proliferation of Fraud and Abuse in Florida’s Addiction Treatment Industry.”
I believe grand juries can and do perform important functions, but they need to be “fair and balanced”.
The report correctly concludes the obvious: there are some substandard sober homes, and some greedy substance use disorder treatment providers. Notably absent in the report were comparators like slumlords in poor neighborhoods and greedy medical providers in other health professions.
The report also correctly notes the growing opioid addiction crisis, but then uses words like “drastic,” “exploitation,” “medical tourism” and “lucrative opportunity for bad actors” to describe expanded capacity for treatment. Nowhere, however, does it talk about the need for more treatment, or how in Palm Beach County less than 15 percent of those with substance use disorders received treatment last year.
Palm Beach County and Florida as a whole need to expand treatment opportunities, not demonize the providers. While some regulation is necessary, the grand jury essentially recommends over-regulation, which will drive up the cost and reduce availability.
Additionally, the grand jury claims to have heard testimony from “private and municipal attorneys who extensively litigated treatment and recovery housing issues over the past decade.” I don’t know a single private lawyer in Palm Beach County who has extensively litigated such issues on behalf of people in recovery over the past decade who was called to the grand jury.
Had I been called, for example, I would have talked about the zoning discrimination against people with disabilities which makes it hard and expensive for them to get fair housing and treatment. I would have talked about “not in my back yard,” where people and politicians say we need sober homes and treatment centers but not in their city. If not there, where?
Also, I would have talked about the failure of neighbors, politicians, people in recovery and providers to sit down face to face and discuss their fears and needs. It does not appear that any of this was presented to, or considered by the grand jury.