Join me in asking the State of California to create oversight, licensing and standards for sober living homes. My 23 year old son Jarrod died in a “Safe House” and I made it my life’s mission to find out how and why he died. During that journey I discovered that there is no oversight of Sober Living Homes on either a federal, state, or local level. That is why I have created Jarrodslaw, which will be a watchdog group to act as protector and guardian against inefficient, unsafe and illegal practices in Sober Living Homes and to fight hard to make legislative changes, starting with the State of California.

Deaths due to overdosing happen every day throughout this nation at staggering rates and several facilities have higher rates than others. You should not be able to house vulnerable drug addicts and call yourself a drug-free environment if there are no fail safes in place. Oversight, at a minimum should consist of:

1. Narcotic sniffing dogs to check homes randomly on a monthly basis at the owner’s expense.
2. First aid training requirement for managers and staff
3. Narcan and defibrillator on site with staff trained in use.

And accountability should consist of state regulations which have the power to close down Sober Living Homes which do not provide a safe environment.

Sober living homes apply to the IRS for non-profit status and do not pay taxes. They do this by claiming to provide services, such as counseling, or say they are “treatment centers” when in reality some do nothing but collect huge rents, house people in unsafe and inadequate quarters, and expose the residents to available “other” services such as tattooing or any other activity the owner wants to promote.

In September, 2012 I was invited to participate in a Stakeholders Meeting run by the California Department of Drug and Alcohol (ADP). The purpose was to provide input on how to merge all ADP duties into another agency because the current ADP is being disbanded. I was able to tell my story to all the attendees and had enormous support and understanding about the necessity to have State laws regulations that apply to Safe Houses.

My son is not here to tell us what happened on the day he died. The owner of the safe house gave me no information, or even condolences. My mission is to make sure that this does not happen to a loved one of yours. I ask you to join us in our efforts and become ambassadors and spokespersons to make Jarrodslaw a reality. This Foundation will be so important to anyone out there who wants to assist and be agents of change. Please contact www.JarrodsLaw.org for more information.