Pubdate: Mon, 15 Jan 2001
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190
Fax: (408) 271-3792
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
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Author: ED POPE

RULES REVISED FOR REHAB HOMES

Voters OK'd treatment -- not jail time -- for drug violators. The new late
takes effect July 1.

Shortly before he caused a 1998 freeway collision in Morgan Hill that killed
four teenagers, Scott Davis, who was under the influence of methamphetamine
when the crash occurred, had operated an uncertified drug-rehabilitation
home in San Jose.

In 1996, John Dovolis, who ran a residential drug and alcohol program in San
Jose, was convicted of falsifying clients' status reports to the court in
exchange for sexual favors from female clients in his care.

After Richard Allen Davis confessed to the infamous kidnapping and slaying
of Polly Klaas in 1993, authorities discovered he had been using drugs and
living in a county-funded halfway house in San Mateo County.

High-profile cases like these have cast a cloud over residential drug and
alcohol programs, made people everywhere wary of having recovery houses in
their neighborhoods and possibly discouraged non-violent recovering addicts
and alcoholics from seeking treatment.

After months of hearings and discussions, Santa Clara County has adopted
stringent guidelines for certifying these facilities, generally referred to
as ``sober-living environments.'' Their aim is to weed out the Davises and
Dovolises -- anyone with a record of serious or violent crime, particularly
sex offenders, kidnappers and arsonists.

Under the guidelines, the district attorney's office will conduct background
checks for violent criminal activity among staff members of these programs,
as well as those who enroll voluntarily or are sent there by the courts. The
DA believes these checks will improve safety for the neighborhoods and those
enrolled in recovery programs.

``There no longer will be any houses certified whose residents have not had
a criminal background check,'' said Assistant District Attorney Karen
Sinunu. She has overseen the DA's program -- the only one in the state,
possibly in the country -- since its inception in 1997. She has spearheaded
its expansion under pressure from drug courts and the general community to
provide more treatment and less punishment for drug offenders.

``Since these people will be living as closely together as they would in
county jail, we have to care about who's sleeping next to whom,'' she said.

But it has not been an easy task for the district attorney's office to get
jurisdiction over houses that are under contract to the county Department of
Alcohol and Drug Services.

Certification is a duplication of services, said Robert Garner, director of
the department. ``The DA has not presented a shred of evidence that there is
a need for them to do oversight.''

The district attorney's office, though, conducted an investigation that
turned up 411 calls for help and 49 arrests at recovery facilities under
contract to the department in the two years ending in August.

There were four incidents of firearms being discharged, six people found
under the influence of drugs, 14 people drunk in public, two drunken-driving
incidents, two bomb or terrorist threats, six attempted suicides, one
carjacking, two assaults with a deadly weapon, eight cases of battery, and
170 reports of disturbances.

``This is the first I've seen this,'' said Garner when handed the district
attorney's report. ``I've never been approached by SJPD about problems in
any of these facilities.''

Earlier, Garner had insisted there had never been a serious incident at one
of the houses and said he feared that background checks by the DA would
frighten off people who otherwise might seek help. He argued that an addict,
especially one with a criminal background, is more dangerous when not in
treatment.

But the police records sealed the deal. County supervisors last month
unanimously sided with the DA after examining the number of incidents at
uncertified houses.

Since 1997, the district attorney's office has inspected and certified 71
houses that voluntarily sought review or that accepted clients sent by the
courts. It also has checked those clients' backgrounds for violent criminal
activity.

No one knows exactly how many sober-living houses there are in the county,\
but the best estimate is more than 90.

The district attorney's jurisdiction extends only to facilities that provide
transitional housing, not treatment. Residents of these facilities usually
live full time at the house but attend treatment or 12-step programs
elsewhere.

The DA's guidelines will not affect residential treatment facilities,
because their clients are under 24-hour supervision. There are only six such
houses in the county, and houses of this type are required to have a state
license. Nor will the DA certify outpatient treatment clinics, which
generally are at hospitals or in non-residential settings.

Garner said the county will still have uncertified sober-living environments
where addicts can go voluntarily without undergoing a background check. It
is one way of providing for people who might feel this is an invasion of
their privacy, he said. But people entering those facilities will understand
from the start that no checks have been made for criminal activity among
those living at uncertified houses.

Houses with six or fewer beds are exempted from licensing or certification.
The courts have held that anyone can operate a facility of that size, but
they will not get clients from the courts unless they are certified.

Contact Ed Pope at  or (408) 920-5641. Mercury News staff
writer John Hubner contributed to this report.
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