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Palm Beach officials look to regulate halfway homes

Palm Beach County leaders are looking to a 1999 joint statement as a possible way to regulate halfway homes in residential neighborhoods. Thus far, officials have been blocked by both the state legislature and federal law.

Locals are concerned about the proliferation of sober-living homes for recovering addicts, which are not regulated or licensed and do not have any kind of registration requirements, according to the Palm Beach Post.

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Addicts are considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act, which protects them from housing discrimination.

“You can have a home, you just shouldn’t have the whole neighborhood,” said Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities. “That doesn’t help people assimilate back into the community.”

The 1999 joint statement by the Department of Justice and Department of Housing and Urban Development defines who is protected under the Fair Housing Act and clarifies zoning for group homes. Officials are hoping to change the wording of that document. [Palm Beach Post] – Christopher Cameron

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