'SOBER' HOUSES FALL THROUGH CRACKS

"Sober houses" are emerging as a problem across the New Haven area, and are
operating with severely limited local regulation, according to New Haven
officials.

Some of these sites, which are supposed to be transitional residences for
recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, are providing good environments to
help people turn their lives around.

But other houses are unsupervised and some of their occupants are not
"sober" at all. At such places, the residents continue to use drugs. The
houses are usually in residential neighborhoods, indistinguishable from the
other houses on the street.

Opponents and proponents of these homes agree on one thing: There is a
desperate need for good "sober houses," because the state provides little
housing assistance after recovering substance abusers walk out of
rehabilitation centers.

"Sober houses" are not halfway houses because they don't have on-site
counselors. Instead they often use house managers who are supposed to
oversee the occupants' progress.

Perhaps the worst house, at least in the eyes of some city officials, is a
building at 443 Howard Ave, New Haven.

"We identified it as a bad 'sober house' and we stopped sending our clients
there," said Edward Mattison, executive director of the South Central
Behavioral Health Network, who helps place people in "sober houses."

"People reported there were residents sitting on the porch, drinking,"
Mattison said. "There were enough rooms for 30 people and it was very
overcrowded."

Mattison asked, "When does it stop being something the city should
accommodate and become a scam? (The house on) Howard Avenue is clearly over
the line."

Mattison, who is a Democratic alderman from the 10th Ward, complained to
city Building Official Andrew Rizzo, who investigated and issued a cease
and desist order against its owner on a charge of operating an illegal
rooming house.

Rizzo identified the owner as Odessa Snowden. She could not be reached for
comment.

Rizzo said after his order was ignored, he recently asked the state Housing
Court to issue an arrest warrant for Snowden. His request is pending.

City officials have authority to go after Snowden only because, unlike
other "sober house" owners, she has not sought protection under the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act.

Under federal law, recovering substance abusers are considered disabled.
U.S. statutes also require that, if it is requested, municipalities make a
"reasonable accommodation" in cases where such people are living together -
even if city or town ordinances limit the number of residents per dwelling
unit.

Mattison notes, "The question is: What's a 'reasonable accommodation'?
Whenever a city or town in Connecticut has attempted to enforce its
regulations (against "sober houses"), it has lost in court." He said this
happened in recent years to West Haven and North Haven.

New Haven officials are trying to deal with the issue by coming up with a
new ordinance.

Under the old zoning code, no more than four unrelated people could live in
one dwelling unit. But last week the Board of Aldermen voted into law an
amended ordinance expanding this to eight unrelated people per unit, plus a
manager, as long as those occupants are in rehabilitation.

However, Mattison admitted even this new ruling will inevitably be legally
challenged by "sober house" owners as not being a "reasonable
accommodation." Those houses often have more than eight residents.

One of the most controversial "sober house" operators in New Haven is David
Vieau, who runs three properties under the name of his Turning Point
Foundation.

Vieau, who has many supporters but also some detractors, said he has 13-15
residents, plus up to three managers at each of his houses.

According to Vieau's attorney, Greg Kirschner of the Connecticut Fair
Housing Center, there is still a problem with New Haven's "sober house"
laws, despite the new ordinance.

Kirschner said each situation is different, depending on variables such as
the size of the house. "So I don't think the new ordinance would meet the
obligations the city has under the Fair Housing Act and ADA."

Vieau came to public attention last month when Vincent Marottoli, who lives
across the street from Vieau's "sober house" at 1212 Quinnipiac Ave.,
complained about it during a Board of Aldermen committee hearing.

Marottoli said when the house was sold last December, suddenly 15 men moved
in, with no notification to neighbors that such a facility was coming.

In a later interview, Marottoli said he supports the concept of "sober
houses." But he added, "It's like a Pandora's box. They can go anywhere and
they're not accountable to anybody."

Vieau also operates houses at 980 Townsend Ave. and 432 Ellsworth Ave. The
latter is for women, two of who contacted the Register to complain about
conditions there. They asked that their real names not be used.

Jennifer said she lived at a former Vieau "sober house" at 1516 Quinnipiac
Ave. last year, then transferred in December with the other female
residents when Vieau moved them to the Ellsworth Avenue house. He rents
that property.

She lasted less than a month there, leaving because it was "chaotic" and
"it was not 'sober' living." She charged the female house manager was not
helpful.

Jennifer said she lived in one of the three, two-person apartments on a
"crowded" third floor. "There were two working bathrooms for 17 women," she
said.

"He's not offering a recovery-based program," Jennifer said of Vieau,
despite such claims on his Turning Point Web site. "He's just collecting
money for his own benefit."

Jennifer said she paid $135 per week to stay there and a security deposit
was required. She said she now lives nearby at a "sober house" operated by
the Oxford House group and pays just $60 weekly.

She said that unlike at the Ellsworth Avenue house, "at Oxford House they
structure your life and give you a safe place to live. We also have to take
drug tests."

Jennifer said the worst thing that happened at Vieau's Ellsworth Avenue
house was the discovery of a syringe on a bathroom floor.

"You'd think they would have done a drug test," she said, "but it was just
let go. The manager called a house meeting, but of course nobody admitted
to doing it."

Jennifer also charged there was "lots of stealing" being done at the house
by residents. "I lost a silver necklace. I had to sleep with my purse in my
bed and my jewelry on me."

She noted Vieau's Web site also promises residents will get help from the
staff finding jobs and that transportation will be provided. But she said
this never happened for the residents.

Helen, who said she lived at the Ellsworth Avenue house for five weeks,
said she saw the syringe that was found in the bathroom. She, too, said no
drug tests followed.

"If you live there, you do your own thing," Helen said. "It's a place to
lay your head. But as far as being a 'sober house' or a 'recovery house,' I
don't think it is."

Helen, a recovering alcoholic, now lives with her mother in Trumbull.

Jennifer praised the supportive work of Sally Pitcher, Vieau's house
manager at 1516 Quinnipiac Ave.

But Pitcher said Vieau fired her in November for reasons that are still
unclear to her.

"He's all about the money," Pitcher said. "He's got the most expensive
(highest rent) 'sober houses' in the area."

Pitcher said despite this, she saw 20 to 22 men crowded into the Townsend
Avenue house, several of them forced to sleep on couches.

But Vieau has supporters, including Mattison. He said Vieau's houses are
adequately supervised and he has never heard of any drinking or drug use there.

Mattison said he helped Vieau obtain a $25,000 grant from the Melville
Foundation last year to open up a women's "sober house" here.

Vieau provided letters from parents of his residents, praising his efforts.
One mother spoke of the supportive "family-type atmosphere" and the on-site
AA meetings which kept her son off heroin.

In addition, Robert White, a resident of the Townsend Avenue home, said he
is benefiting from living there. White is a former heroin addict. He
described Vieau as "awesome, the nicest guy I ever met."

Vieau lives at 1212 Quinnipiac Ave. with 13 recovering addicts, two
managers, who are also in recovery, and his girlfriend, Courtney Trotta.
They are engaged and he said they will raise a family at that house.

She is listed as the property owner; it was bought for $358,400.

Vieau is 34, and a recovering addict. "We're trying hard," he said, "to
help people get back to mainstream life."

Responding to the allegations about the Ellsworth Avenue house, Vieau said
some theft and drug relapses are inevitable. He said random drug tests
occasionally are administered and anybody using drugs is immediately evicted.

Vieau did not return a follow-up phone call seeking comment on why Pitcher
was let go.

Vieau admitted he needs to update his Web site to clarify some job and
transportation claims. But he said his residents do shovel snow at Yale.

As for the Townsend Avenue house, which Vieau bought in 2003 for $290,000,
he said there were never more than about 17 residents there. He said if a
man needs short-term help and no beds are available, he will be provided
with a couch.

Vieau, who said he gets no government money, maintained he is "barely
making it" financially, despite those weekly rental payments. He said house
maintenance, managers' salaries and insurance balance out the rent income.

"There's a stigma about 'sober houses,' " Vieau said. "Some people use them
to make a bunch of money and hide behind the ADA. I'm not for that."