Delray Beach's "unaccountable and hugely profitable" sober homes are the city's "most intractable problem"

The article by Nick Madigan in The Coastal Star is a lengthy one, very interesting, and not optimistic about the answer to the sober home problem any time soon. The city manager in Lake Worth, Michael Bornstein, also dealt with this issue in his year-ending message to the City of Lake Worth:

     I regularly receive questions and comments about issues ranging from potholes to sober houses. In most cases our issues are not unique to Lake Worth as cities across the state are dealing with the same ones. We share our ideas through organizations such as the League of Cities and from working with them it becomes evident that all cities must consider two important factors. The first is the limits set by external entities such as the federal or state laws, and, secondly, the resources necessary to pay for a solution if one is possible.
     For example, in dealing with sober homes, cities are prohibited by the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Act from enacting laws that treat them differently than any other type of rental. Thinking with common sense may lead you to believe that these are businesses operating in residential areas with potential negative impacts when operated by unscrupulous owners. You may ask, “Why doesn’t the City require a special license or prohibit them altogether?” The simple answer is that as long as Congress considers a person with an addiction as protected under law, the City is greatly limited in our response. Instead, we must work with our state and federal leaders to figure out how to creatively and legally mitigate the impacts while also working for changes to the laws.

The article in The Coastal Star cited above is about a news conference in Delray Beach which included State Rep. Bill Hager, State Sen. Jeff Clemens, Delray Beach Mayor Cary Glickstein, and others. Here is an excerpt:

      “There is no one here who can guarantee how this is going to unfold,” Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton, said during a news conference at which the measures were announced.
      His uncertainty was echoed by John Lehman, president of the Florida Association of Recovery Residences, the entity chosen by the Department of Children and Families to establish a voluntary credentialing system for the unregulated sober homes and apartments. They act as halfway houses for people recovering from substance use disorders but are often problematic for the residential neighborhoods that surround them.

[and. . .]

     Addicts who fail in their attempts at recovery or who get kicked out of sober homes because they did not follow the rules “end up on the street, still suffering from an addiction,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said in a telephone interview. “And they become victims of crime — or perpetrators of crime.”
      Glickstein, who described the “unaccountable and hugely profitable” residential recovery industry as Delray Beach’s most intractable problem, said his office was working with Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat who represents Florida’s 22nd Congressional district, to amend language in federal administrative rules and the Fair Housing Act so that local governments can have solid standing in their efforts against wayward sober homes and other facilities.

The message seems to be help is on the way but don't get too excited about anything happening in the near future. Be patient. It's a hard pill to take (pardon the pun) but it's ultimately a problem for the federal government to solve.