Constituent Comments on Sober Living Home Problems

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise again regarding the hearing held by the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice on September 28, 2018 on the issue of sober living homes. At that hearing, I had the privilege of testifying at that hearing in support of my bill, H.R. 5724, to restore local oversight over sober living homes. As part of my testimony, I submitted to the Subcommittee letters from many of my constituents about problems with sober living homes caused by current federal law preventing appropriate local oversight. For the benefit of my colleagues and the American people, I include in the Record the second group of these constituent letters:

In mid-February the home next door was sold to a LLC. The home was converted to a sober living home. I do not know how many men live at the facility but notice that new men are coming and going all day. There are different cars parked weekly. I hope none of these men have criminal backgrounds. Have cut down going outside the home. Stopped the evening walk. Have an ADT security system and installed motion lights all around the home.

Initially they smoked cigarettes in the backyard and we lost all use of our backyard. On constant complaining to [REDACTED] they moved the smoking to the other side of the home. It did not help much as now they had begun to smoke e- cigarettes and vaping also. The smell in our home is terrible. We use Hepa filter air purifiers in the home. Keep half the home windows closed. Our home has become more of a prison. My husband and I have chronic multiple health issues. The smoke and e cigarette pollutants cause me to have a constant cough, irritated nose, burning eyes and sometimes headaches. I wear a N99 pollution mask all day in the home. I daily leave the home for a few hours to take the mask off. I also try to spend a night or two outside the home. When the symptoms get further aggravated I get checked by my Physician. I last visited him on August 31, 2018. It affects me more than my husband.

These homes are built for single family use and not for group smoking and vaping. Our family room and sober living home family room is 10 feet apart. My husband and I are covered under the ADA, we are covered but not the facility and medical personnel we use. The addict should be covered under the ADA but why are the owners and medical personnel covered also.

A few years back every residential neighborhood in Huntington Beach had a park and school. Today every residential neighborhood has a few sober living home/detox facilities. Schools are closing, and many parks are unsafe for children. Joti Ghuman, Huntington Beach, California. ____

Since having a sober living home open nearly behind my home, the quality of life in this neighborhood has deteriorated greatly. What has been a quiet neighborhood where people feel safe to live their lives, raise their children, and go about their daily lives in a secure environment has changed. Now I need to be certain every night that every door and window in my home is locked and secure. We had an incident in which drug users from the sober living home ran from the police through not only my but several neighbor's yards, with police searching through those yards at 2 am, with the suspects attempting to enter at least one home in the attempt to evade police. Many neighbors speak of seeing people committing suspicious activities in on the grounds of the local school, which is approximately three homes away from the sober living home. Many neighbors are so anxious about the deterioration of the neighborhood that they are selling their homes, with many others discussing doing so as well. We need more oversight as to who manages these homes, as I understand, the one in my neighborhood is managed by an individual with multiple felonies. This is insane, and regulations need to be implemented. Thank you for reading my issues. Edward Skelton, Huntington Beach, California. ____

I live a few houses away from a sober living home where drug use has gone on there. Even worse someone from there entered another person's home on our block in the middle of the night. It saddens me that there is not much regulation regarding these homes and they can just open anywhere. We have families with little kids in the area and a school down the street from us. These homes need to be regulated and their clients properly cared for. There should be proof that patients are benefiting from these homes before we spend all this money to make owners of them rich, while everyone suffers including the community. Gina MacDonald, Huntington Beach, California. ____

We live in a town house in Aliso Viejo, California. Our walls are connected to other homes on both sides. In 2015/ 2016 one of our neighbors moved out and turned her home into a sober living home. For almost 2 years we lived in constant fear of the revolving door of people going in and out of that house.

During that time, we (and our neighbors) had to call the Orange County Sheriff's Department because of numerous violent fights, at all hours of the night. My girlfriend witnessed an individual who seemed to have overdosed in front of our garage. There were numerous fights, strange chemical smells coming out of the house, sheriffs and other emergency vehicles constantly next door. Residents would wander the neighborhood and at hours of the day and just stand outside our home, looking right into our windows. We had to lock our doors, close the blinds and request that they smoke down the street. We are still worried that methamphetamine was possibly being cooked and was the source of the chemical smells coming from inside the home. Again, we share a wall and we worry about possible long-term risks of exposure.

At one time, the boyfriend of one of the residents was wanted by the United States Marine Corps. The home owner stopped by our home and provided me the investigators phone number. We had strict instructions to call her if we ever saw him at the house. Why are we responsible for this?

Two separate nights, someone from this house tried to walk into our house. Luckily our front door was locked, and they just slammed into the door.

In late 2016, one of the residents passed away inside the home.

The home is still some kind of a ``facility'' for people with problems but we have not had the problems that occurred in 2015-2016. The current residents are nice but due to the constant change of occupants, we still live in fear that something could happen at any time. It's been almost 4 years of hell and I think it is unacceptable that the state allows someone to open a place like this, with little to no restrictions and the neighborhood has no rights or protection against this from happening.

No family should live in fear due to someone else's greed. We talked to the city, HOA and Sheriff's department multiple times and all said that there was nothing they could do to help. They wanted to help but said the state says this is ok. Although we understand that people need help, but our safety and peace of mind should not be sacrificed. That is our story and can back it up with emails to our HOA every time an incident happened. Albert Francis, Aliso Viejo, California. ____

My name is Virginia Mccoy, mother of four children, wife of a police officer, and a positive role model in my community in Huntington Beach, CA.

I live across the street from our public middle school, and directly diagonal to a new sober living house. Unfortunately, the house is not sober, and is impeding on the safety and happiness in our neighborhood. Drugs, alcohol, speeding, and the lack of respect to neighbors has truly put a stain on our once wonderful family neighborhood.

I am no longer comfortable letting my 14-year-old daughter ride her bike in the neighborhood, walk our family dog, or walk to her friend's home down the street. Just today, September 5, 2018, was the first day of school, witnessed many parents drop their child off right in front of this ``Sober Living House.'' The fact that parents have no idea that just a couple weeks ago the occupants along with others were smoking heroine, were chased by police, broke into a neighbor's home, and were never caught, is truly terrifying.

I urge and plead for firm regulation and stricter laws to combat fraudulent sober living homes, protect our neighborhoods, and protect children in school neighborhoods. Virginia Mccoy, Huntington Beach, California. ____

There are two SLHs in our neighborhood in Huntington Beach near [ADDRESS]. One of these is our neighboring house that was occupied earlier this year. Our neighbor of forty years died, and her children sold the home.

Since the SLH has been occupied we have been impacted by constant cigarette smoke and vape vapor. Our incessant complaints to the owner's manager have mitigated the smoked vapors to the point where it is less frequently noted. This has not however reduced our health impacts. My wife has constant complaint of itching eyes and irritated throat. She has now been coughing for over two months with some bouts that are persistent over many minutes. During a doctor visit last week she was advised to reduce in-house irritants.

My allergies have been exasperated since the SLH facility has moved in. Incidents of running nose and coughing have increased and I now have daily bouts of sneezing.

After having lived in our house for over forty years we are now confronting a situation where our neighbors are impacting our health making it impossible to peacefully enjoy our home. The occupants of the SLH are transient who have shown no interest in any involvement in the neighborhood. We do not know who the occupants are, or many people live there.

We hope you are able to use our experience in providing input to any congressional hearing on the subject. Opjit Ghuman, Huntington Beach, California. ____

I have lived in my home since 1966. With two different 4- year breaks. My husband, Marc, and I have lived here continuously since March of 1988. I was raised in this home and we have raised our two daughters here, also. We have a lovely neighborhood and fantastic neighbors. Most of whom have also lived here for more than a decade. I have been very involved with [REDACTED] school as a volunteer in various capacities including PTSA President.

In recent months it has come to our attention that [ADDRESS] is no longer a family home. It is now a DETOX CENTER. How do I know? Diligent research by myself and other neighbors.

Drug Incident: The research began in depth after very disturbing events in the early morning hours of Friday, August 24, 2018 approximately 1:40 am at [ADDRESS]. The same early morning, the Huntington Beach Police were summoned to the sidewalk next to [ADDRESS] after another neighbor witnessed drugs being cooked and shot-up. The suspects scattered, and two males ran into the side yard of [ADDRESS] and hopped backyards between the homes on [ADDRESS]. Camera surveillance is available from the backyard of [ADDRESS] and front door of [ADDRESS]. There was a backpack abandoned on the side walk next to [ADDRESS] that contained a significant amount of drugs. Camera footage available from [ADDRESS]. HBPD Case No. [REDACTED].

Pit Bull Incident: Monday August 27, 2018 my neighbor [NAME] was prevented from exiting her car in her driveway at [ADDRESS] because of a barking pit bull on her property. She pulled into my driveway and into my home to ask me to whom the pit bull belonged. I told her it belonged to [ADDRESS]. We proceeded to call Animal Control after witnessing the dog roam across the street and down to the corner, barking the entire time at anyone it saw. I have video of the Pit bull charging into the street towards me while I am near my front door. When Officer [NAME] from Animal Control arrived, the dog continued to bark and began growling repeatedly. Officer [NAME] told me that this dog was in violation of Cade 41-51 Protection From Animals and was a misdemeanor offense. I have copies available of the neighbor statements regarding violation [REDACTED].

Research: Research has revealed that the house at [ADDRESS] is now owned by [NAME] is listed as principle. [NAME] purchased this house on [ADDRESS].

Resident of the home (believed to be a House Manager) is [NAME]. [NAME] has an extensive criminal past including multiple drug charges, multiple DUis and was most recently imprisoned for securities fraud. [NAME] is currently on parole. How do we know that? His parole officer knocked on the incorrect door and demanded to speak with [NAME}. [NAME] said that she did not know [NAME]. The PO eventually realized her mistake and knocked at [ADDRESS]. No one answered. [NAME] is the owner of the pit bull reported to animal control. [NAME]'s codefendant in the securities fraud case [REDACTED], has been at [ADDRESS] at least three times.

THIS DETOX HOUSE HAS AFFECTED MY FAMILY IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:

I CAN NO LONGER SLEEP WITH MY WINDOWS OPEN.

I CAN NO LONGER ALLOW MY GRANDNIECE AND GRANDNEPHEW TO WALK TO AND FROM THEIR HOME TO MINE (3 HOUSES) WITHOUT DIRECT SUPERVISION.

I AM CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR ANYTHING THAT IS UNFAMILIAR IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD.

I WORRY ABOUT MY NEIGHBORS.

I WORRY ABOUT THE SCHOOL CHILDREN THAT WALK TO [REDACTED] SCHOOL ON MY STREET EVERY MORNING AND AFTERNOON.

I CANNOT SLEEP SOUNDLY.

I HAVE INSTALLED SECURITY CAMERAS.

I DO NOT FEEL SAFE.

Please allow our local government to have jurisdiction in MY neighborhood. HBPD has yet to gather video evidence from any neighbors regarding the drug charge. There is no detective assigned to the case at present time. Janet Cardenas, Huntington Beach, California. ____

I wanted to share my opinion on the sober living homes. I have lived in Costa Mesa for many years. The city has gone through a major transformation due largely to the sober living homes. There are young adults that now live on our streets because they were ``bought'' from out of state, went to a sober living home, and then kicked to the street when the money ran out. They have no method to get home and mostly return to drugs while they live on the streets. I saw a young female crying sitting with her suitcase. Apparently, her time was done at the sober living home, they would not help her return home (out of state) and the people she was with robbed her of her money and other possessions. We gave her the info for Costa Mesa Homeless Network solutions. I live across the street from a sober living home. The company was able to buy a $925k home and the people that run it drive Audis, Jaguars, and of course, there is the $80k Mercedes that shows up. There are cars everywhere around this sober living home in our neighborhood, there are often young males sitting in cars in our neighborhood (sometimes for hours), and there are kids smoking everywhere. I am appalled that this has continued to exist. We are essentially allowing human trafficking to pay these broker fees to feed enough people into their ``sober living home factory''. They are supposed to help the tenants return home, where they may have a support system. However, that would cost them money; their only business is to make money. I would ask a change in the law to state you must be a resident of California for 12 months to enter a sober living home here and there may be no exchange of ``broker'' fees to buy bodies for their homes. We need to clean up our neighborhoods. Crime has skyrocketed in our neighborhood. Our mail is stolen, packages are stolen, cars are broken into, and our homes are being broken into. We need to enact these new requirements and the state must regulate them. They must send in inspectors to make sure these homes are free of drugs, the tenants are from California for the last 12 months, and that there was no money exchanged to find these people. We have been essentially wasting tax money to make our city less safe. Erin Blancett, Costa Mesa, California.

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