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Council weighs local regulation and inspection of recovery residences after staff flags overcrowding and unsafe conversions
Summary
Facing overcrowded and sometimes unsafe recovery residences, Hagerstown staff recommended Sept. 16 combining operator certification with local inspection and registration to close regulatory gaps left by Maryland law.
City staff and council members discussed recovery residences and sober living homes during the Sept. 16 work session, focusing on a regulatory gap created by Maryland’s licensing scheme, concerns about overcrowding and unsafe or unpermitted conversions, and possible local remedies.
Staff summarized state law: Maryland’s 2016 regulations require licensing for certain behavioral-health treatment and group-home settings, but the state expressly exempts recovery residences (which provide alcohol- and drug-free housing without clinical treatment) from those mandatory licenses. The state does have a voluntary recovery-residence certification program; some state…
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