He said, “I applaud the General Assembly for passing this important legislation. It’s our goal to provide recovery house residents with a safe, supportive, and drug-and-alcohol-free environment during a critical time in their recovery journey.”
In addition, Gov. Wolf said. “The legislation will require DDAP to create and maintain a publicly accessible registry of all licensed or certified drug and alcohol recovery houses within the commonwealth.”
Meanwhile, Acting DDAP Secretary Jennifer Smith said. ““Recovery homes can be a safe and productive space for individuals in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. Before this legislation, these homes have had very little regulation and oversight.”
“Licensing these facilities allows DDAP to ensure that these homes are held to the same standard as other treatment facilities,” she added.
Under the legislation, DDAP regulations for recovery home must include but not limited to the following:
- A policy that ensures residents are informed of facility rules, residency requirements and lease agreements.
- Policies and procedures for management of funds in accordance with standard accounting practices.
- A policy ensuring criminal background checks for operators and employees.
- Policies and procedures addressing the safety of residents.
- Policies for maintaining building safety standards.
- A prohibition on owners, administrators and employees from requiring residents to sign over their public assistance benefits.
- Policies and procedures for managing resident complaints.
- Polices that promote recovery by requiring resident participation in treatment or other recovery supports.
- Policies requiring abstinence from alcohol and illicit drugs.
