State lawmakers advanced legislation intended to curb abuses in the addiction treatment industry based on recommendations from a state watchdog group two years ago that found widespread failures in regulation and oversight that it said opened the door to corruption.
The Assembly oversight committee unanimously approved a trio of bills Thursday that aim to beef up state control over certain drug and alcohol treatment facilities, their owners, and the industry’s use of peer recovery specialists, those who have first-hand experience with addiction and are trained to offer patients non-clinical support.
Two of the proposals raised concerns for some treatment providers, however, with witnesses telling the committee the measures go too far to correct the problems identified by the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation in its 2024 report.
Frank Jones represents addiction treatment providers as a member of the newly formed Jersey Recovery Coalition, and he testified against the bill to revise the state’s licensing requirements for residential treatment centers.
“My concern is that the pendulum is going to swing past the mark and is going to adversely affect those that need care,” Jones said.
Jones said the coalition supports “patient protection and accountability” but the bill in its current form is flawed, pointing to provisions he said would make it hard for small, community-based treatment programs.
“I understand the concerns of the Legislature, but I just think there’s a better way to do it,” he said.
The bill, sponsored by Assembly members David Baily Jr. (D-Salem) and Margie Donlon (D-Monmouth), a doctor, would require facilities to pay for independent financial audits and applicants to undergo a criminal background check to identify “dishonesty or fraud.”
Deaths for drug overdoses have started to decline in recent years nationwide and in New Jersey, where more than 3,000 people suffered fatal overdoses in 2022, a high point. The death toll still topped 1,300 last year, according to preliminary data from the state.
While the SCI’s 2024 report says many people have been helped through treatment, the agency’s multi-year investigation found unchecked abuses by owners and operators of addiction-related businesses who routinely engaged in “corrupt practices” to turn a profit.
Among other things, the SCI urged state officials to strengthen licensing and inspections for treatment facilities and better regulate recovery, or sober-living homes; clarify rules around ownership and financial ties between various facilities; create stricter requirements around who can serve as peer specialists; and tighten the watch on programs receiving public money for their work. Other reforms recommended by the commission have been passed and signed into law, including measures to end deceptive marketing in the industry and patient ‘brokering’ or profiteering from referrals.
Another measure heard Thursday, one sponsored by Assembly members Dan Hutchison (D-Camden) and Shama Haider (D-Bergen), would create stricter guidelines around who can serve as a peer recovery specialist and additional regulation around training, overseen by the state consumer affairs division, which licenses doctors, nurses, and a host of other health care professionals. Specialists can now be trained through a certificate course available from professional groups and community colleges.
Joel Pomales, a peer recovery specialist with Mainstream Recovery, warned the bill lacked input from those in the field and, with a requirement for background checks, would limit the workforce.
“We want to be clear that we support quality standards, ethical practice, and accountability, however this bill currently as written risks undermining the workforce that it seeks to strengthen,” he said, adding that the bill “blurs the line between peer roles and clinical roles.”
A third bill requiring treatment facility owners to be assessed for conflicts of interest passed without comment from the public. All three measures face additional votes in both the Assembly and Senate before they could be signed into law.
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