State of California Changing Rehab Licensing Regulations

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on March 26, 2014 under AZ Drug Rehab News | Comments are off for this article

A report surfaced this week that the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is tightening its regulations on rehabilitation facilities throughout the state. One of the areas in focus seems to be the portion about the licensing of six-bed facilities.

Previously, treatment providers could bundle up several buildings on a property and list them as separate facilities, which was a way around the regulation of having to comply with more standards. One famous facility that has done this is Passages Malibu, which received a letter from the city stating they are no longer in compliance with state regulations. The DHCS issued a statement to the Malibu Times that exclaimed, “We will license all buildings as a single facility to discourage facilities from obtaining numerous six-bed licenses at one address. Although this was allowed in the past, we’re changing the license to a single license when the provider renews every two years.”

Given the recent levels of fraud detected in the state’s treatment system, the DHCS is also submitting to have nearly two dozen more code enforcement officers for inspections of facilities. Boutique rehabs have become somewhat of a cottage industry in certain parts of California, as high-priced facilities have been able to cater to wealthy clients. Malibu alone has nearly three dozen licensed facilities and multiple sober living homes as well.

There is apparently two sides to the problem that Malibu faces. On one side there are people who simply have a case of NIMBY, while on the other there are treatment programs intentionally skirting the law to increase profits rather than being respectful of the surrounding community. It is absolutely true that there is a shortage of treatment beds in this country, and it takes all different kinds of facilities to meet the needs of the various clientele. Hopefully there can be some middle ground when it comes to treatment center expansion and residential communities.