Addiction recovery houses are meant to be a safe, structured place for recovering drug addicts to live as they get sober. We found out that the Pennsylvania Department of Drugs and Alcohol doesn’t regulate or license these facilities unless there is drug or alcohol treatment provided on the premises. Neither do most municipalities. “We don’t regulate the running of the house. That’s up to the particular business, person or whoever owns the property and is running that particular use there,” said Walter Siderio, Zoning Officer with the City of Lancaster.
Concern
“You can go out and rent five houses and call them sober houses and move people in and you are just renting rooms,” said Kathy Sorandes, Director of Choices Recovery House. She runs a tight ship to help recovering drug addicts get sober. “We do routine room checks, we do routine drug testing,” said Sorandes. She thinks the lack of regulation could be putting recovering addicts safety at risk. “The people coming into these houses are fighting a disease that wants to kill them.”
She recommends you do your research before moving into one of these homes. “The families really don’t know a lot of times. Their child is going into a sober atmosphere for the first time after coming out of a treatment center. Try to get references, find out who the house manager is and how often they are at the house. Find out how often the clients are being drug tested and what their requirements are to live there,” said Sorandes.