Bills prompted by Post investigation could provide crucial information about addiction treatment centers

People seeking treatment for addiction in Florida can find 3,000 programs from the Panhandle to the Keys with their addresses and phone numbers on the website of the state agency charged with their oversight.

But information on inspections, complaints, violations and credentials that would help prospective patients protect themselves and avoid programs that have been cited for negligent, harmful, even exploitative practices is not so easy to come by.

Now legislators have taken steps to prompt action, and the Florida Department of Children and Families secretary has heard their concerns following a September Palm Beach Post investigation detailing DCF dysfunction and dereliction in its oversight of addiction treatment.

'Florida Shuffle': Better info from DCF could have helped patients stay away from it

The newspaper followed a couple lost in the cycle of failed treatment that has come to be known nationally as “The Florida Shuffle.”

It showed that while DCF displays no online oversight information for the programs it licenses, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) does so on all other medical services regulated by the state, including nursing homes, outpatient clinics, home health care agencies and close to 30 other services. That information, the Post found, could have helped vulnerable patients stay out of settings where risks of falling back into substance use were high.

On Jan. 9, state Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, introduced a bill covering a range of substance use treatment reforms, including a provision that would require DCF to display license applications, inspections, complaints, investigative reports and findings, and referrals to recovery residences prominently on its website. A similar bill, by state Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, has been referred to state House committees and subcommittees for review.

Read The Post's investigation: Florida Shuffle: State's failure to oversee addiction treatment leaves patients in deadly danger

The Post investigation provided impetus for the Senate bill, Harrell said, which is part of her 15-year quest for quality, accountability and oversight of addiction treatment providers and the recovery residences to which they refer their clients.

“We want as much information out there as possible,” she said.

The Senate bill also includes provisions that would improve accountability for recovery housing operators, eliminate some taxes for housing that has been certified by the Florida Association of Recovery Residences, and bar recovery residences from turning away residents solely because they have been prescribed medication for substance use disorder.

Join our community forum: Palm Beach Post public forum to examine "the Florida Shuffle" of addiction treatment

DCF secretary says legislation not necessary for DCF to post records

Since drafting the bill, Harrell said, she has spoken to DCF Secretary Shevaun Harris, who told her the department will post the records without the need for legislation. For that reason, Harrell will withdraw the provision from the bill, she said, with confidence that the improvements will be made.

“We have absolute guarantees from the secretary,” Harrell said. “We have the word of the secretary that there’s going to be transparency.”

Harris did not respond to requests to comment for this article.

Palm Beach County Chief Assistant State Attorney Alan Johnson, who heads the office’s Addiction Recovery Task Force also voiced confidence following recent discussions with Harris that the department will undertake the improvements more effectively under its own initiative.

More: What is the Florida Shuffle of addiction treatment? How patients are lured here

DCF chief listened in at addiction recovery task force meeting

In addition to meeting with Johnson, Harris attended the Jan. 4 task force meeting, listened to the group’s discussion on the legislative proposals and, he said, welcomes the opportunity for the department to undertake the improvements called for.

“She really is invested in making a difference,” Johnson said. “We had a very frank discussion, and I’m optimistic that working together we can better protect vulnerable persons with substance use disorders. I believe the public will be well-served by her priorities.”

Harris has led the department since February 2021 after two decades with AHCA, which included a period as acting secretary. Her biography cites her career beginnings as a social worker and her work overseeing policy and quality improvements in the Florida Medicaid Program.

Agency struggled to round up records, took months to provide requested documents: Can it post on website?

Improving public access to addiction treatment oversight records could be challenged, however, by disarray across the department’s records management systems, which was uncovered by The Post investigation.

While the agency’s website includes a portal for providers to upload licensing documents and for consumers to register complaints, the agency used it inconsistently, according to DCF Deputy General Counsel John Jackson.

A Post request for licensing and oversight records of two facilities was met with a response that it would take three days and cost more than $700 to fulfill. The department then produced no records for more than nine weeks, and never produced complete records.

DCF recorded two substantiated complaints regarding an unreported death and unreported injury for one facility. But the agency didn't record any disciplinary action for either incident. It recorded no corrective action in response to the injury. In addition the investigation into that complaint made no mention of the death, which had occurred a month earlier.

A request for complaints about treatment facilities under DCF oversight did not identify facilities and included a page saying the system had no data for the entire preceding year.

Attorney Susan Ramsey, a task force member who represents families of patients who have died or been harmed in addiction treatment facilities, describes similar experiences.

A spreadsheet of public records requests maintained by her practice show requests for records going unfulfilled for months, incomplete documents and records provided, some from months and years outside of those requested, even after payment of hundreds of dollars charged by the agency to find the records and redact confidential information.

In addition, Ramsey notes, no record indicates that the agency has ever imposed a fine in response to violations that it has found.

Community forum on addiction treatment: How to go

“Fixing the Florida Shuffle – Next Steps,” will be the topic of a Palm Beach Post public community forum from 6:15-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17, at the Palm Beach State College Lake Worth Beach campus. The discussion will focus on what must happen to end the cycle of recovery, relapse and overdose that has come to be known nationally as the “Florida Shuffle.” The event is open to the public. To attend, register here: Fixing the Florida Shuffle - Next Steps.

Antigone Barton is a reporter with The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at avbarton@pbpost.com. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Addiction treatment investigation by Palm Beach Post prompts legislation