CATSKILL — The Greene County Legislature’s Health Services Committee approved a proposed agreement last week between the county and the sober living home organization Oxford Houses, moving the measure to the full board, which is expected to vote on it at its April 17 meeting.
The contract will be a provision of consulting to establish, expand and oversee the effective organization of the network of Oxford Houses located in the Greene and Columbia counties.
The agreement allows Oxford House to provide Greene County with all of the services necessary to establish one sober living house annually with the intent of providing safe, affordable housing to those who are in recovery from alcohol and/or drug misuse.
On April 3, four of the five legislators on the committee voted in favor of the contract. Legislator Ed Bloomer, R-Athens, led the motion and it was seconded by Greg Davis, R-Greenville.
The sober living facilities were first brought in front of the Legislature in early February by Jason Fredenberg, community services director of Greene County Mental Health.
Oxford Houses plans to have one house in Greene County and one in Columbia County to split the initial cost, he said.
Intended to promote an ongoing alcohol- and drug-free lifestyle, the proposed houses will have an initial fee of $180,000 split between the two houses. Greene County Mental Health services is looking to use some of the county’s opioid funding for the houses.
“As we know, there’s a serious problem of addiction within the county,” Frendenberg said in February. “We hear a lot about the opioid epidemic, but of course it’s broader than that. Actually, the drug of abuse that’s most widely used is alcohol, it’s just that opioids are the most deadly. Of course, there’s also issues around housing.”
There are 34 Oxford Houses in the state with three within an hour of Columbia and Greene counties, according to the organization’s website.
“Their (Oxford Houses) model seems to be working really well,” Fredenberg said. “They have over 2,000 houses across the United States right now.”
Oxford Houses follow three basic steps in its houses: each house is democratically self-run, self-supported, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol or drug use. Any resident who relapses is immediately evicted from the house.
An outreach worker will be hired and paid for with the project’s initial fee by Oxford Houses and will be in charge of finding a house, signing the lease, building relationships in the community to gather referrals and finding the initial house residents.
By splitting the $180,000 fee with the proposed Columbia County house, two people would be hired with each county paying $90,000, and two Oxford Houses would be started.
Fredenberg said the Oxford House will hire an outreach worker to find the house; it’s not the county’s responsibility to do that.
Legislator Michael Bulich, R-Catskill, asked at the April 3 committee meeting when it will begin or take effect.
“We are doing this with Columbia County, so we have to make sure their process is ready,” Fredenberg said. “They’re eager to move ahead.”
Greene County Mental Health Services believes using the money from the opioid settlements to fund the house would be a great opportunity.
However, in February legislators still had questions.
“How many people yearly does this help,” asked Legislator Daryl Legg, D-Lexington/Hunter/Halcott. “And what’s the turnover? Are they there for a year, two years? What’s the longevity of a person staying there?”
Fredenberg did not have the statistics Legg asked for at the meeting.
The Oxford House model does not have an exact time limit for a person to stay in a house, Fredenberg said.
The resident success rates and turnaround rates were also unclear to Dan Almasi, director of community services at Columbia County Department of Human Services.
Legislator Matt Luvera, R-Catskill, said he spoke with a former Dutchess County Executive and U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-19, about the proposed houses.
“He said the Oxford Houses are better than most that are out there,” Luvera said.
An approval by the full Legislature at its April 17 meeting would prompt Chairman Patrick Linger, R-New Baltimore, to create a one-year service agreement, subject to approval by the county attorney, between Greene County and Oxford House, Inc.
“I don’t think this is a bad thing,” Linger said. “If it is effective, I would be inclined to support it.”