Now that the Structured Sober Living Homes bill has become law, the City of Prescott has authority to establish an ordinance(s) for regulating some aspects within the group homes. Instituting ordinances that deal with the supervisor requirements and operational plan within these homes will enhance the health, safety and welfare of clients and improve treatment outcomes which, in turn, will reduce neighborhood issues and complaints.
The city is developing an ordinance and will explore implementation options within the following areas:
Certification of House Managers
The intent of certification is to ensure house managers possess a minimum level of qualification in the following areas: application of first aid, CPR certification, infectious disease control and prevention, non-violent crisis prevention and intervention, dual diagnosis and addiction and assisted self-administration of medication certification (training and ability to distribute medications on-site in certain situations). The city is working with Yavapai College to develop the training program for overall certification of house managers.
Adequate House Manager Staffing
Currently, unlicensed homes typically have only one assigned house manager. While the person may be on-site 24/7, he/she at some time must sleep. Licensed homes have staff awake at all times to provide adequate care for clients.
Relapse Exit-Plan Program
When a client suffers a relapse, he or she is often not permitted to stay in the structured sober living home. In these cases, the client is released onto the street with no money or place to go, and is effectively rendered homeless. Homes will be required to develop an exit plan, which facilitates a procedure to allow the client to return to their home city or be assigned to another recovery program after detoxification.
The City Council will initiate discussion of the draft ordinance to implement the Structured Sober Living Homes law in its study session on July 12. The final ordinance will need to be operable, enforceable, not violate any existing federal or state laws, and will benefit from multiple discussions and stakeholder input. As always, the public is welcome to attend this study session. This ordinance, coupled with the council’s newly approved ordinances on noise control and nuisance properties, will provide the city a basis from which to address problems within the recovery homes as well as issues that affect other residents in the neighborhood.
The passage of the Structured Sober Living Homes bill is in line with two other laws recently passed by the legislature aimed at curbing the sale of unnecessary prescription drugs and reducing the number of overdose-related deaths in the state. According to the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission report of 2015, Arizona has the 12th highest rate of prescription drug abuse in the country, with non-fatal opiate overdoses increasing by 100 percent between 2008 and 2013.
Under the first law, SB1283, doctors must check the state’s prescription monitoring database before prescribing drugs containing opioids or benzodiazepine, a type of tranquilizer. The database is a computerized system used to track the prescribing, dispensing and consumption of Schedule II, III, and IV controlled substances in Arizona. In addition to providing information to medical practitioners and pharmacists to help avoid the inappropriate use of controlled substances, this database assists law enforcement in identifying illegal activity related to these controlled substances. The database may only be accessed by authorized personnel in order to assure confidentiality and security of data. Doctors are already required to check a voluntary database, but this bill now makes it mandatory, except in circumstances such as hospice care.
Under the second law, HB2355, family and friends can more easily access a drug, naloxone hydrochloride, which prevents overdoses from opiates such as heroin and oxycodone. Pharmacists are allowed to dispense the drug, known by the brand name Narcan, without a prescription. The Arizona State Board of Pharmacy is working to develop standards for dispensing the drug, to include counseling on when and how to use it. The new law also gives immunity from liability to doctors and pharmacists who dispense the drug and to anyone who administers it in good faith.
The Structured Sober Living Homes law would not have happened without the hard work and dedication of Rep. Noel Campbell and his legislative assistant for the bill, Mary Beth Hrin. I’d like to thank them both for drafting the bill and seeing it over the finish line. Thanks also to the Northern Arizona Recovery Association (NARA), an industry association for providers of addiction recovery services. NARA and a few other providers have been very supportive of Prescott’s efforts to bring more accountability to transitional living facilities. In fact, most reputable recovery providers in town are cooperating with the city, some providing valuable input on the draft ordinance stemming from the new bill.
Stay tuned as we continue to work together on this and other issues important to our community. QCBN
By Harry B. Oberg