Council Member Lauren Hammond's messageHow to make complaints about group home and care facilitiesLast November my staff attended a meeting concerning group homes in South Sacramento. Former Senator Deborah Ortiz, Jack Hailey from the Senate Human Services Committee and representatives from the Community Care Licensing Division of the California Department of Social Services were in attendance. This state department licenses 90,448 facilities in California that include adult day care, community treatment facilities, foster care, group homes, residential elderly care, alcohol and drug recovery treatment/detox, sober living, and emergency shelters. The state licenses 95 group homes in Sacramento and will follow up on any complaints regarding these facilities. If you are having problems with a home licensed by the state, you can file a complaint with the State Community Care Licensing Division at 263-4672. An investigator has 90 days to make a field visit, interview the workers, residents and community members and make a recommendation for corrective action up to and including closure. For more information: www.ccld.ca.gov. The county of Sacramento also licenses various foster care homes. Any questions or complaints can be directed to the county at 875-013. In addition, we have found that there is another category of homes that are privately owned and rented to individuals who establish unlicensed facilities. The city's Neighborhood Services Department's preliminary research on state law indicates that all facilities providing care or treatment for non-related persons require licensing from the state to operate. However, state law exempts licensed group homes serving six or fewer persons from local jurisdiction. Services offered at these facilities are defined by the state as a residential use and prohibit the city from treating the home any differently than a typical family living situation. This law has changed somewhat with the passage of AB 2184, but does not give local government oversight. State law also provides that facilities must be a minimum of 300 feet away from any other licensed home unless the city provides an exemption for this requirement. In regards to sex offenders, AB 240 was introduced in April 2005. The intent of the bill was to prohibit a person who is on parole for child molestation or continual sexual abuse of a child from residing within one-quarter mile of any public or private K-12 school. The governor vetoed the bill in October of the same year, and called on the legislature to support AB 231 and SB 588, which he felt were the most comprehensive reform of sex offenders. Both bills failed in January 2006. Proposition 83 was subsequently approved by 70 percent of California voters in the statewide November election of 2006. It allows for increased penalties and longer prison and parole terms. Offenders released from prison will be monitored with global positioning system devices while on parole and for life after discharged from state supervision. Registered sex offenders can not live within 2,000 feet of a school or park and a larger number of offenders could be committed by the courts to state mental health facilities for treatment. For more information, go to www.voterguide.ss.ca.gov/props/prop83/ballot_sum83.html. Finally, at a recent meeting in Newport Beach over 90 cities in California came together to discuss the growing number of facilities in our neighborhoods. There was consensus that cities would begin to think about strategies to support bills in the legislature that will change the way neighborhoods are impacted by these facilities. We will continue to be involved in those discussions and will continue to work with our city attorney to look at what we can do at a local level. Questions or comments for Council Member Hammond? |