Daphne Bramham: More oversight and enforcement needed at addictions recovery houses

Credit to Author: Daphne Bramham| Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2019 02:41:37 +0000

If ever there were a need for more harm reduction, it’s at the registered and unregistered, licensed and unlicensed addictions recovery houses in British Columbia run by operators who have no regard for residents’ health or safety.

Within the last year, five people have died in provincially registered recovery homes. Two of those deaths were in the last three months.

On Dec. 1 — years too late for too many — new legislation and regulations finally came into effect. But they apply only to operators on the provincial Assisted Living Registry and not to those licensed by the local health authorities. There is also no provision to shut down those that are operating illegally. On its website, the Health Ministry does list 26 unregistered houses that it has received complaints about. But people in the recovery community say it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

The regulations themselves are “thin,” according to Carson McPherson, the chair of the B.C. Centre on Substance Use’s recovery committee.

“They’re easy to work around. There’s no real specificity anywhere,” said McPherson.

“There are no specific requirements for level of staffing qualifications tied to prescribed services. If you’re delivering trauma-informed services, you ought to have someone qualified. But that doesn’t exist (in the regulations).”

Prior to the regulations coming into effect, the Addictions Ministry provided $4,000 grants to operators for 16 hours of staff training.

But McPherson argues that’s hardly enough. “You’re dealing with health care and life and death situations.”

Beyond that, what’s been left in place is a confusing system that’s almost impossible for recovering addicts and their families to navigate. While some recovery houses are registered on the province’s Assisted Living Registry, others are licensed by local health authorities.

Still others operate illegally, which has forced municipalities like Surrey to use their limited business licensing and bylaw enforcement systems to try to shut them down. The government provided no new tools or authority to deal with those.

Despite that, there’s plenty of catch-up work that B.C.’s assisted living registrar needs to do.

Until now under the old, so-called “progressive system,” registered operators were given multiple chances to fix problems and there were no consequences if they didn’t.

On Nov. 26, for example, it cancelled Step by Step Recovery Society’s registration. But two  days later, a man in his 30s lit himself on fire and died at one of its five Surrey houses. He was the third resident in less than a year to die in one of Step by Step’s houses, which had 65 substantiated complaints registered against them.

Even now, at least one of its houses remains open. The Addictions Ministry says it has asked the city to help the remaining residents find spots at other recovery houses.

Why wasn’t Step by Step immediately closed on Dec. 1 when the legislation and regulations came into force? Because they’re not retroactive and the actions begun against Step by Step are covered by the old rules.

Also exempt from the new regulations areOptions Recovery Centre in Surrey and Reaching Out in Vancouver where the two other deaths occurred earlier this year.

On July 1, a beloved young man died at Options on 100A Avenue. The 34-year-old was the brother of a friend of mine.

Among the most cynical of Options’ substantiated failings is that it failed to even meet the legislated requirement of filing a serious incident report to the registrar within 24 hours of his death. It was only reported on Aug. 8 after a complaint had been filed.

But that was the only substantiated complaint to which John Alan Murphy, Options sole proprietor, has responded.

Investigators have substantiated complaints that it fails to provide many of the key services required of supportive addictions residential care homes.

In July, investigators found that staff and volunteers are not qualified for their jobs or knowledgeable about their roles.

No help is provided for residents to work toward long-term recovery, maximize their self-sufficiency, enhance their quality of life or help them reintegrate into the community. The food was deemed not to be nutritious or safely prepared.

Two months earlier, investigators substantiated a similar list of complaints.

Unsafe meals. Unsafe site management. Unqualified staff and volunteers. No support to assist in recovery and reintegration.

Sometime in September, a resident died at Reaching Out, a house in Vancouver operated by Changing Addictive Attitudes Recovery Society of B.C.

On Nov. 25, investigators substantiated complaints about Reaching Out that are chillingly similar to those at Options.

Reaching Out failed to report the death at its facility within 24 hours. Staff and volunteers were unqualified. There is no 24-hour emergency response system for residents and staff to summon help. And investigators deemed it an unsafe place for residents to live.

To gain some modicum of credibility, the registrar needs to act swiftly to bring all of the houses into line and hope that no one else dies in the meantime.

As for Health Minister Adrian Dix and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy, they ought to draft even more sweeping changes, bolstering enforcement to ensure that illegal operators can also be rooted out.

Vulnerable people aren’t just dying on Downtown Eastside streets in the midst of the opioid overdose crisis. They’re dying in places that promise to help them attain a healthier lives.

dbramham@postmedia.com

Twitter: @bramham_daphne

Anyone who provides assisted living services for more than two seniors, people with mental health issues or those in recovery from addictions is required to be approved by B.C.’s assisted living registrar. Following is a list of unregistered homes by region from https://connect.health.gov.bc.ca/ext/ccala/assisted-living

FRASER HEALTH

• 3H Wellness Society

13297 78A Avenue

Surrey

• A:yelexw Women’s (Seabird Island Recovery Homes)

2835 A:yxalh Lane

Agassiz

• Patricia House — Abbotsford Women’s Centre

15 Winson Road

Abbotsford

• Cozzolino Home

24990 36th Avenue

Aldergrove

• Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre Ltd.

9341 Burns Drive

Delta

• Hope for Freedom Glory House

34641 Lougheed Hwy

Mission

• Inspire Change Wellness House

13936 — 28 Ave

Surrey

• Union Gospel Mission — Lydia Home

33170 70th Ave

Mission

• Mann Ford Recovery Center

4131 Lakemount Road

Abbotsford

• Union Gospel Mission

Men’s Recovery Program

601 East Hastings Street

 

VANCOUVER

• Night and Day Recovery Centre Ltd. (108A)

14677 108A Ave

Surrey

• The English Manor

16963 22nd Ave

Surrey

• Union Gospel Mission

The Sanctuary

361 Heatley Ave

Vancouver

• Vancouver Recovery Centre

1880 Eagle St

Abbotsford

• Vancouver Recovery Centre

2323 Southdale Crescent

Abbotsford

• Vancouver Recovery Centre — Suncrest

7822 Suncrest Drive

Surrey

• Vancouver Recovery Society

6122 168 Street

Surrey

 

INTERIOR HEALTH

• Resurrection Recovery Resources Society

Freedom’s Door #6

1340 Belaire Ave

Kelowna

• Round Lake Treatment Centre

200 Emery Louis Road

Armstrong

• Shuswap Lodge Retirement Residence

200 Trans Canada Highway SW

Salmon Arm

• The Mustard Seed

181 Victoria Street

Kamloops

• Valiant Recovery — The Crossing Point

3525-3527 Lakeshore Rd

Kelowna

 

VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH

• Giving Back Support Recovery (house One)

3608 Knight Street

Vancouver

 

VANCOUVER ISLAND HEALTH AUTHORITY

• Heritage Manor

1051 College Street

Duncan

• Mile Zero Sober Living

647 Niagara St

Victoria

• Oceanview Manor

468 Battie Drive

Ladysmith

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