Councilmember Liu Introduces Drug or Alcohol Treatment Legislative Bills for Support by the Irvine City Council
IRVINE, CA —Irvine Councilmember Melinda Liu requested the legislative committee for support for three State Assembly and Senate bills, focusing on a Recovery Housing Transparency Bill Package that will be implemented across the State.
Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers are vital to ensuring patients obtain assistance for a healthy and supported recovery. After the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, Californians took the initiative to strengthen support for individuals requiring care. The California Community Care Licensing Act of 1973, allowed the state to issue licenses to treatment facilities, eventually passing this to the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). Today, these initiatives have helped thousands of Californians recover from chemical dependence and addictions in a sober living environment.
However, existing areas of concern have arisen regarding DHCS’s protocol for licensing facilities; including receiving and handling complaints for the facilities, and the status of said complaints. In July 2024, an incident happened in Irvine’s District 1 at a sober living facility called, Turning Tides, resulting in the death of a patient. This unfortunate event led to the finding of violations by the treatment facility, resulted in the location shutting down, and highlighted the importance of strengthening enforcement.
Due to the concerns regarding DHCS’s protocols, the League of California Cities has requested the Irvine City Council to support the following legislative bills regarding Alcohol and Drug Treatment Centers: Senate Bill 35 by Senator Umberg, Senate Bill 329 “Alcohol and Drug Recovery or Treatment Facilities: Investigations” by Senator Catherine Blakespear, Assembly Bill 424 “Alcohol and Other Drug Programs: Complaints” by Assemblymember Laurie Davies, and Assembly Bill 492 “Alcohol and Drug Programs: Licensing” by Assemblymember Avelina Valencia.
Senate Bill 35, “Alcohol and Drug Recovery or Treatment Facilities:” by Senator Umberg, focuses on the inspections and investigations of Alcohol and Drug Recovery or Treatment Facilities. Under the proposed new rules, the DHCS would initiate an investigation within 10 days of receiving a complaint on a Drug or Alcohol treatment facility and must complete the investigation within 60 days. Moreover, the bill would allow cities and counties to obtain approval from the DHCS to conduct announced and unannounced inspections of facilities. If violations are determined, enforcement action will be conducted by the City Attorney, County Counsel, or County Behavioral Health Agency. Through implementing this bill, the City of Irvine will be able to obtain more control to protect the health of patients within these treatment facilities.
Senate Bill 329, “Alcohol and Drug Recovery or Treatment Facilities: Investigations” by Senator Catherine Blakespeare, is a bill that would focus on investigations on Alcohol and Drug Recovery or Treatment Facilities. A recent audit conducted by the State has determined that DHCS does not have a clear timeline for assigning and completing complaints received by the department and does not thoroughly investigate complaints. In the most extreme case, the audit found that one case took more than 600 days to complete.
Assembly Bill 424 “Alcohol and Other Drug Programs: Complaints” by Assemblymember Laurie Davies, focuses on complaints about Alcohol and Drug Programs. This bill would enable the DHCS to provide a status within 30 days of an initial complaint filing to the reporting party, and the outcome. The aforementioned audit found that the DHCS took on average about 100 days to assign low to medium-priority cases and negatively impacted patients’ health and safety. Enacting this bill promotes accountability and ensures those filing a complaint will receive more expeditious care.
Assembly Bill 492 “Alcohol and Drug Programs: Licensing” by Assemblymember Avelina Valencia, focuses on the licensing of Alcohol and Drug Recovery programs. Currently, the DHCS issues licenses for treatment facilities. However, the department is not required to provide notification of issued licenses to the local jurisdictions. This bill would be crucial in informing City and County governments to ensure the coordination of services to bridge the gap in the state’s approach to treatment needs and enable local control. As 70% of the state’s 2,043 treatment facilities are located within Southern California with a high concentration in Orange County, this is an issue that directly affects the City of Irvine.
Alcohol and Drug Recovery or Treatment facilities serve two vital purposes: ensuring treatment for patients in need and protecting both their health and welfare. Enacting these bills would legally enhance the City’s ability to carry out these municipal duties by providing oversight on unlicensed and underregulated facilities. Many facilities throughout the state have taken advantage of patient needs for proper medical treatments, but have failed to provide properly credentialed staff and ignored health code violations. The result of these sub-standard facilities is illegal billing of medical insurance despite patients receiving inadequate medical care.
The City of Irvine would benefit from supporting these Bills, which grant the City more control over these facilities, allowing the City to intervene to protect residents’ quality of life to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. A municipal government must ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all its residents, making it critical to support this action.
Councilmember Melinda Liu strives to ensure the health and safety of our Irvine residents, it is therefore essential to implement these bills.
For more information or further questions about the bills, please reach out to Councilmember Liu’s office at MelindaLiu@cityofirvine.org
