Greg interviews Dave Aronberg, the State Attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida. Mr. Aronberg established a Sober Homes Task Force to combat the numerous flop-houses and fake treatment centers that have popped up around Delray Beach.
Greg asks the State Attorney about how this problem developed and has continued to thrive. He explains that the issue of these for-profit treatment and detox centers started after the ACA and other legislation started providing states with money. “Palm Beach County, and Delray Beach in particular, has had a long history of very active recovery communities. When the laws started to change, with the Affordable Care Act and Mental Health Charity Act, and other well-intended laws that provided new benefits for individuals with behavioral health issues… you started to see predators move in and take advantage of the new pods of money…” He continues that because current laws have no limitations on the length of treatment, these private companies are keeping people in a cycle of relapse and recovery. “And with the ban on preexisting conditions the incentive is to get people back into relapse and create this cycle over and over and over again – because that’s where the money is. And you’re dealing with people at the lowest stages of their lives, [people] who are incapable of making rational decisions on their own. So when a provider encourages relapse… the individual goes along with it. Because it’s hard enough to remain sober as it is, let alone to maintain that sobriety after you lose your free housing, your community, and your perks.”
Listen to the podcast to discover how these fake detox and treatment centers keep people in their systems and how State Attorney Aronberg and his team are fighting to break the cycle.
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