Editorial: A Potential Antidote to Sober House Problem

Thanks to U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, South Florida cities can make a new fight against the proliferation of sober homes that are damaging traditional neighborhoods and draining budgets.

Last week, the departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued an updated joint statement on local regulation of group homes under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act. The key portion states that while local governments must make "reasonable accommodation" for those in recovery, "the Fair Housing Act does not prevent state or local governments from taking into account concerns about the over-concentration of group homes that are located in close proximity to each other."

The previous statement, which the departments issued in 1999, had left local governments powerless. In 2007, Boca Raton lost a four-year legal fight after the city tried to restrict sober houses to certain areas. In 2012, Delray Beach settled a lawsuit brought by an operator of high-ended sober houses. The threat of more lawsuits discouraged further action even as the number of sober houses grew, especially in Delray Beach.

Speaking Tuesday with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, however, Frankel said cities could use the new statement "with a great deal of confidence to protect their quality of life and the character of neighborhoods." Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein said the statement covers not just how many sober homes are in a neighborhood, but also how many people live in the home.

From a South Florida perspective, the need for new guidance was obvious. The 1999 statement preceded widespread use — and abuse — of such prescription painkillers as OxyContin. "Pill mills" sprung up in Broward and Palm Beach counties. When law enforcement shut them down, opioid addicts moved to heroin.

Sober home operators touted this region as ideal for those in recovery from opioids. Parents in the Northeast and Midwest sent their children. Bad sober home operators then exploited them, bleeding insurance policies through unnecessary urine tests and evicting patients who relapsed to become the cities' problem.

Concentrations of sober homes also draw drug dealers. Patients at badly run homes are more likely to relapse. With one weekend left in October, there had been 83 drug overdoses in Delray Beach for the month and 11 deaths. In Delray and Boynton Beach, many overdoses happen in public places. Police officers and paramedics carry Narcan, which can keep overdoses from becoming fatal, but is expensive.

Frankel had heard complaints from cities in 2012, when she first won her House seat. When city officials understood two years ago that the Florida Legislature would make only mild attempts at regulating sober houses, they asked the congresswoman to intervene.

At first, Frankel recalled, "I could not get help from anybody. I was kind of shocked." She discovered, though, that "most (lawmakers) didn't have this problem." The drug problem is everywhere, but sober house operators seek out vacation areas. Plus, the real estate crash made many South Florida homes more affordable.

In April 2015, Frankel sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and HUD Secretary Julian Castro. The letter included several questions and sought guidance for how cities and counties could work with "responsible sober home operators to develop standards for recovery residences" that would protect the rights of recovering addicts and "maintain the fundamental character of residential neighborhoods."

Eventually, Frankel had breakfast with Castro. Both had been mayors — Frankel in West Palm Beach and Castro in San Antonio. That shared perspective, Frankel said, helped Castro appreciate South Florida's problem. Frankel also got help from Jerry Abramson, an assistant to President Obama. Abramson had been mayor of Louisville.

The turning point came last spring, when a HUD delegation visited Delray Beach and heard from area mayors and city attorneys. Frankel also said that while "nobody had wanted to take on the disabled community" — the Americans With Disabilities Act covers those in recovery — "we worked with them. They understood."

Frankel is correct to say, "Now the hard work starts" for cities and counties. They will have to craft ordinances for sober homes. Glickstein said one option for Delray Beach could be to declare a "zoning in progress" for group homes; the city would process no applications while writing an ordinance. Delray Beach just did that when writing rules for tattoo parlors.

Any ordinance likely would face a lawsuit. But Glickstein, a lawyer himself, said cities and counties could use the new statement almost as a judge's ruling. "I think it would be very persuasive to federal courts."

If the statement at this point is just potential, however, it's potential that local governments had lacked. If that potential becomes real relief for cities and counties, Frankel will have delivered a great constituent service.