LEGISLATURE STUFF - A Place to Call Home

CATSKILL - It is merely a thought at the moment but establishing a local Oxford House has been presented to the Greene County Legislature.

Lawmakers, at a recent meeting, were visited by county Mental Health Department director of community services Jason Fredenberg.

Fredenberg provided details on the mission of and maintenance for an Oxford House which is a “concept in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction,” according to their website.

While an Oxford House would not be a county-run entity, the legislature would need to approve startup spending by Mental Health.

Fredenberg said the upfront money would likewise not come from the county, coming rather thru the settlement of a major lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies related to their role in the opioid crisis.

No wrongdoing was admitted but billions of dollars have been set aside for health care and addiction treatment programs.

Mental Health would access their share of that payout pie to help bring an Oxford House here, Fredenberg said, painting a disturbing picture of everyday realities revolving around alcohol and drugs.

“There is a serious problem with addiction in our county,” Fredenberg said. “We are already dealing with this issue and have been for a long time.

“We may hear more about the opioid epidemic because opioids are more deadly. Alcohol is more widespread. They both impact many people

“This would really fill a gap. It is especially hard during the early recovery stage to find suitable housing for people that promotes ongoing sobriety. Oxford House offers a model that has been shown to work well.

“The house is fully self-supported. There is a zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol. If they relapse, they are expelled,” Fredenberg said.

“Oxford House describes a democratically run, self-supporting and drug [and alcohol] free home,” their website states.

“This publicly supported, non-profit 501(c)3 corporation is the umbrella organization which provides the network connecting all Oxford Houses.

“It allocates resources to duplicate the Oxford House concept where needs arise. The number of residents in a house may range from six to fifteen.

“There are houses for men, houses for women, and houses which accept women with children. Oxford Houses flourish in metropolitan areas such as New York City and Washington D.C,” their website states.

“They thrive in such diverse communities as Hawaii, Washington State, Canada and Australia, but they all abide by the basic criteria.

“Each House represents a remarkably effective and low cost method of preventing relapse. This was the purpose of the first Oxford House established in 1975 in Silver Springs, Maryland.

“This purpose is served, day by day, house after house, in each of over 2000 houses in the United States today,” their website states

“From the beginning the group rejected ownership of any property and continues to rent – not purchase – single-family houses in good neighborhoods to establish new Oxford Houses.

‘In the years between 1975 and 1988, eighteen Houses were established by and for recovering individuals. The men and women in Oxford Houses pay all expenses to maintain the individual Oxford Houses.

“During 2017, residents paid rent, utility and other household expenses of over $116,000,000. During the same period of time, Oxford House Inc. spent $7,240,189 to start 263 new houses,” their website states.

Funds are used to “keep the national network of approximately 2,300 houses on track through utilization of trained outreach workers, publications, monitoring, organization of chapters and state associations, workshops and the annual national convention.

“In the seven years between 1989 and 1996 the accomplishments of Oxford House World Services included an average rate of relapse maintained at less than 20% of all residents.

“Between 1997 and 2007, Oxford House continued to grow and thousands of recovering alcoholics and drug addicts demonstrated that recovery without relapse could become the norm rather than the exception.”

Fredenberg informed lawmakers that an initial fee of $180,000 would hire an outreach worker to find and furnish a house, in a yet-unspecified location, while also initiating relationships within the community.

There would then be a $140,000 annual fee, split evenly between Greene and Columbia counties with residents coming from both counties.

Some concerns were expressed by lawmakers about the long term capability of Mental Health to pay the yearly fees and whether the population pool would ever extend outside the two counties. 

Those items would need to be clarified before this county okays the startup spending. “I don’t think this is a bad thing,” legislature chairman Patrick Linger said in a followup interview.

“Right now, the county has a hodge-podge of ways to treat these folks and find places for them to stay. I do question how much is accomplished by having, let’s say, only five or six people in a house.

“But [legislature Majority Leader] Matt [Luvera] talked to ]Congressman Marc Molinaro about a place like this in Dutchess County.

“The word is this is a better program as far as effectiveness. I was kind of on the fence when I first heard about this but if it is effective, I would be inclined to support it,” Linger said.