Lawmaker’s bill aims to attack sober-home fraud

A state lawmaker from South Florida is introducing legislation designed to clean up fraud and abuse in the drug treatment industry.

State Rep. Bill Hager, RBoca Raton, said Wednesday he is drafting a bill based on 15 recommendations made by a 21-member grand jury in Palm Beach County this week.

The grand jury convened by State Attorney Dave Aronberg met for three months. It found that South Florida’s drug treatment industry is plagued by “deceptive marketing, insurance fraud and patient brokering.”

“These atrocities will not continue,” said Hager, who

plans to submit his bill before the Legislature convenes in March. “I am committed to ending this crisis.”

Drug-recovery residences known as sober homes have proliferated across South Florida neighborhoods. While some sober homes provide excellent care, many unregulated homes “have become unsafe and overcrowded flophouses, where crimes like rape, theft, human trafficking, prostitution and illegal drug use are commonplace,” according to the grand jury’s report.

Some homes place profits over patients and provide little actual help to those trying to get clean, the grand jury said. Meanwhile, the heroin epidemic has worsened in South Florida, and officials are projecting overdose deaths will exceed 800 in the region this year.

The grand jury’s recommendations included increasing funding to regulatory agencies by raising industry fees, outlawing deceptive advertising practices and strengthening penalties for paying for patients. Hager said he will work to ensure those priorities are heard in Tallahassee.

The exact language of the bill is still being crafted, but it will be based on the grand jury report, said Beth Lerner, a spokeswoman for Hager.

The grand jury said the Department of Children and Families, the state agency charged with overseeing the industry, is “grossly understaffed and underfunded.” The agency employs 25 licensing specialists to oversee 931 licensed substanceabuse treatment providers — an inadequate number to ensure the industry is following the rules, according to the garnd jury report.

John Lehman, president of the Florida Association of Recovery Residences, said good sober homes are supportive of additional regulations because unscrupulous operators are giving the industry a black eye and placing ethical providers at a competitive disadvantage.

Mark Fontaine, president of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, said the grand jury delivered a thorough assessment of problems in the drug treatment industry.

“There are some very good recommendations made in the grand jury report that need careful consideration to see if they can help address the problem we all know exists,” said Fontaine, whose organization represents substance abuse treatment providers.

Hager pushed legislation in 2014 that created a voluntary registration program for sober homes.

The Legislature did not act on his efforts last session to clamp down on deceptive advertising in the industry. Instead, state lawmakers appropriated $275,000 to create a task force in Palm Beach County to study the issue and make recommendations.

State Attorney Aronberg said he was optimistic that state lawmakers would listen to the panel’s recommendations.

“I am willing to believe the Legislature acted in good faith when they gave us this money,” he said. “They wanted to hear the recommendations.”