Legislative work done during the last session paved the way for setting standards around sober housing.
A 2021 law, Senate Bill 4, now makes referral kickbacks illegal.
Because transitional shelters are not treatment facilities, they are unregulated and typically not covered by insurance, state Senator Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, said last year.
It’s often a money-making business, where people can take advantage of the situation parents and loved ones find themselves in when trying to help someone with a substance use disorder, said Kirkpatrick, who has also sponsored Bills to protect syringe exchange programs and crack down on bad ones Actor in the transitional housing community.
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“It was a cash cow for people,” said Missy Owen, who started the Davis Direction Foundation to help people recover after her son Davis died of a heroin overdose in 2014.
She said the problem is that anyone can open a sober apartment building without the need for a permit or certificate. Often, a person with as little as two months of sobriety will become a caretaker, Owen said.
“They needed money and they said, ‘Hey, I have a house. If I open up my house for five or six people, 10 people, 12 people and put them on sleeping bags or whatever on the floor and charge them $200 a piece every week, I’ll sit there pretty and you know who cares” said Owen.
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With the passage of SB4, the Attorney General has oversight of patient referrals.
Jeff Breedlove of the Georgia Council for Recovery said advocates now want better regulation of sober living facilities themselves.
“We anticipate that there will be legislation dealing with the introduction of some standards in convalescent homes, or sober dwellings, as they are currently commonly called under Georgian law,” Breedlove said. “There are no legal standards. It’s kind of a wild, wild west.”
The council works with the Georgia Association of Recovery Residences, a self-monitoring association of volunteers.
Any legislation introduced is expected to reassure family and peers that there are legal ramifications for abuse or fraud going on in these sober communities, Breedlove said.
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In this session, the Substance Use Disorder Policy Partnership will advocate for more resources for substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery, Breedlove said.
The partnership consists of 40 organizations that help people affected by a substance abuse disorder (aka addiction) and the group collectively represents more than 1 million Georgians, their families and the professionals who provide substance abuse services.
They support strategies that promote positive solutions, increase funding and remove stigmatizing barriers for those affected by addiction and the professionals who provide care and services.
