REGULATING GROUP HOMES IS DIFFICULT

Richmond City Council Finding Its Hands Are Tied When It Comes To Control
Over Group Homes In The Community

Richmond city councillors weren't pleased by a municipal staff verdict
Tuesday that they either have to license all group homes or none of them.

The black-and-white reality means Richmond can exercise some control over
where drug-and-alcohol recovery homes set up shop. It also means, however,
the city must equally regulate group homes which

require confidentiality and anonymity to operate successfully, such as
residences for battered women.

"We almost seem powerless now about what we're going to do," said
councillor Bill McNulty. "This leaves us with a huge dilemma."

Council's dilemma was created in December with provincial rewriting of the
Community Care Act.

As long as a seven to 10-bed group home doesn't include a mandatory care
component, the facility can operate without a provincial licence.

As Turning Point - an Odlin Road drug and alcohol recovery home - fits this
description, there is no longer any requirement for it to be provincially,
therefore municipally, regulated.

"But once they're unregulated and unlicensed, what kinds of guarantees do
we have that unsavoury characters won't be living in the house?" questioned
councillor Harold Steves.

The answer, according to staff, is: None.

In February, city council asked its lawyers to draft a zoning bylaw that
would specifically govern drug-and-alcohol recovery homes while leaving it
legal for other groups homes to operate without city scrutiny.

After legal consideration, it was determined the city can't discriminate
which group homes it chooses to exempt from regulation based on the
personal characteristics of the client base it serves.

Any move to do this could spark a legal challenge under the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

There are 32 group homes in Richmond, serving a variety of social service
needs.

The existence of Turning Point in a residential neighbourhood is at the
centre of this community's group home debate. The furor surrounding the
facility, though, may or may not be justified.

Richmond city staff said there are no police records which indicate Turning
Point is a community problem. In fact, said Richmond's manager of urban
development, Dave McLellan, regular residences have created more problems.

"Quite frankly, we get more complaints about houses with teenagers," he said.

Residents who live in close proximity to the group home, however, disagree.

Satinder Lall said he's called police on may occasions, but rarely his
complaints have been taken seriously. "Where is my charter of rights?" he
asked.

With Richmond's desire to control some types of groups homes - either
through licensing or zoning - now a moot point, city councillors tried to
finesse a set of recommendations contained within its Group Home Task Force
report in order to give them a voice into the placement of drug-and-alcohol
recovery group homes in Richmond.

The attempted re-jigging, however, still left the possibility that
alcohol-and-drug recovery group homes could set up shop without the prior
knowledge of city officials.

"I think the task force has been phenomenally creative in what they've
done, but I still see these things coming in under the radar screen," said
Mayor Malcolm Brodie.

Within the coming month, Richmond will take another crack at devising a
methods to control proliferation of drug-and-alcohol recovery group homes.
This time, staff will look for ways to flag a potential facility through
the city's permitting process.

Frustrated by the apparent stalemate, councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt
voiced her preference that the city make moves to regulate drug and alcohol
recovery group homes despite feared legal consequences.

"If we have to face a legal challenge on this issue, so be it," she said.