“Problems with alcohol and substance use affect millions of Californians, and nearly one hundred thousand Californians received treatment in 2019 to address those issues,” according to a new report by the California State Auditor.

No surprise then that the state is full of residential care centers in treatment facilities to meet the needs of the addicted. In fact, with few regulations about the location of these facilities, “some residents in Orange County have expressed concerns that an overconcentration of treatment facilities is negatively affecting their communities.” 

As a letter to the Governor and legislative leaders says, the audit found some specific areas in Southern California and “specific geographic areas throughout the state” where small treatment facilities were grouped in residential areas.

There is nothing in California law that forbids this. As a summary of the audit points out in bold letters: “Health Care Services Is Not Required to Limit the Geographical Concentration of Small Treatment Facilities and Does Not Do so.” 

A related issue cited in the audit was the lack of oversight of these facilities, which is supposed to be provided by the Department of Health Care Services.

Here are some of the more compelling findings:

• Health Care Services “was late in completing inspections for half of the 26 facilities that we reviewed.” 

• “The department took more than a year to complete 22 of the 60 complaint investigations that we reviewed, despite internal guidelines to complete such investigations within 30 to 60 days. 

• “Health Care Services has not adequately followed up with certain unlicensed facilities that it determined were providing or advertising services that require a license, such as detoxification, to ensure that the facilities were not unlawfully providing services.

• “Health Care Services has not adequately followed up with certain unlicensed facilities that it determined were providing or advertising services that require a license, such as detoxification, to ensure that the facilities were not unlawfully providing services.”

The lack of sufficient oversight leaves the door open to abundant problems, but the audit does credit Health Services with appropriately suspending and revoking facility licenses when inspections are carried out and “patterns of serious deficiencies in licensed treatment facilities” are identified.

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