TOMS RIVER – Sober living houses in town are sending up red flags for some residents and officials, but operators of these houses said they are providing a meaningful service and are actually being good neighbors.
The issue came up at a recent Township Council meeting, where residents said the property owners are profiting off people with addiction issues, while not giving them the support that they need. They also said that this creates security issues for the neighborhood.
Grande Woodlands Way resident Mindy Wolk said that there was a sober living facility near her in the northern section of town, and from her observation on the outside, there is little in the way of security or background checks going on.
“We understand this is a way for people to recover,” she said, but wondered why it was in a residential area. “They are using this as a business while we have to endure the repercussions.”
Township Attorney Gregory McGuckin said that the township can’t regulate these homes, and in fact a different town recently lost a court case trying to fight them.
“We think it’s wrong,” he said, but the state has control.
Council President Matthew Lotano said that when a sober living house is opened, they don’t have to go through the town. He urged residents that if they see a safety issue, report it right away; don’t wait for it to get worse.
“Maybe if someone bought property next to Phil Murphy and opened a sober living he might change his mind,” he said.
Resident Dana Tormollan, who lives in downtown Toms River, noted that there is more police and ambulance activity at those houses, disrupting neighborhoods.
The houses are not being monitored 24 hours a day like they should be, she said.
“The (State Department of Community Affairs) makes the decision,” Mayor Maurice Hill said. He talked about a case where one house was in court for violating the town’s rental ordinance. The same day the owners pleaded guilty to that, they applied to be a sober living facility through the state.
The town would like to have a counselor on staff at these homes 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but the only thing the town can control is property upkeep, he said.
“It’s a problem. They will come and take the packet from town hall and it goes to Trenton,” he said.
He wondered why there were so many in Toms River as opposed to other towns. In a count at the end of August, there were six in Toms River, one in Brick, one in Jackson, one in Manchester, and one in Union.
The state doesn’t require monitoring of the facility in any meaningful way, he said.
Goldfinch Services, which opened in 2021, runs a few local sober living houses. They are a partial hospitalization program, said Tracey Corrao, the Director of Housing. The residents are transported to clinical treatment six days a week.
Their stay at one of the homes goes to six weeks, she said. It is a volunteer program, meaning that the residents are there because they want to get better. Goldfinch is paid by the private insurance attached to the resident’s job or spouse’s job.
They often come from far away, because it is easier to become sober if you are taken away from your usual temptations, she added.
“These houses are giving people new life,” she said.
Alcohol and drug issues happen in every neighborhood, she noted. By way of comparison, a neighbor with an addiction problem might not be getting any treatment, which is a worse situation than a sober living house where everyone is getting treatment.
She said she took issue with portraying people who want to get better in a negative way. “A majority of these houses, you don’t hear a peep from them.”
State Oversight
Sober living homes are overseen by the State Department of Community Affairs. A public relations employee of that department answered questions about the topic for this article.
“The Cooperative Sober Living Residence (CSLR) licensee sets the house rules for each CSLR individually,” they said.
The state regulations are found at nj.gov/dca/codes/codreg/pdf_regs/njac_5_27.pdf
“The Bureau regulates a CSLR licensee in accordance with an administrative code that extends only to property maintenance standards that govern the physical plant of the CSLR and exterior grounds. Under this code and the limited scope of this license, a CSLR licensee is prohibited from providing any personal services, i.e. social services, health, medical, addiction treatment, etc. to the residents.”
Township officials said they wanted a counselor on site, but it appears that this part of the law would need to be changed in order for that to happen.
The DCA was asked what the vetting process is for starting up a property and how would the DCA know if the property is following the rules.
“A license is issued by the Bureau of Rooming and Boarding House Standards following its standard review process which is: review the application for completeness, review the licensing fees received, conduct applicable criminal history background reports, confirm building complies with the Life Hazard Use standards in the Uniform Fire Code (N.J.A.C. 5:70-1 et seq) for a CSLR, confirm the building complies with the life safety and egress standards in the Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23-1 et seq) for a CSLR, confirm the building complies with the occupancy standards, and determine the licensed capacity for residents based on the Regulations. Once the aforementioned is verified, the Bureau will issue a License to Own/Operate a CSLR.
“The Bureau conducts an annual evaluation to determine if the CSLR licensee is maintaining compliance with the regulations. If deficiencies are observed, the Bureau will serve the CSLR licensee an Evaluation Report and Orders of the Commissioner citing the licensee to abate the deficiencies. The Bureau will conduct a re-evaluation to verify the cited violations have been abated. In addition, the Bureau will conduct unannounced site visits in response to complaints received.”
If someone has a concern about a sober living home not following the rules, they can contact DCA’s Bureau of Rooming and Boarding House Standards via email at rbhs.info@dca.nj.gov or telephone at (609) 984-1704 and provide a short summary explaining the concern.
