Malibu rehab centers remain cause for concern

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Clients pay anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 for treatment at rehab centers like Passages, above.

City officials this week vowed to explore ways to rein in more on long-held concerns over local rehabilitation facilities, viewed by many Malibu residents as nuisances and dangers to public safety. 

The treatment topic came up at Monday’s City Council meeting after Sycamore Park resident Rey Cano said he experienced a strange and worrisome encounter with a patient from the Passages Malibu treatment center last week. 

“A naked man was shuffling aimlessly in front of my home.  He had multiple lacerations, was bleeding and visibly disoriented,” Cano said.

Cano said he gave the man a blanket and shorts before agreeing to walk him back to Passages, located in the Sycamore Park neighborhood in central Malibu.  As he began walking with the man, local sheriff’s deputies arrived and took over the situation.

“I believe it fortunate this occurred during school hours while my daughter and other children were not in the area,” he said.  The Malibu Times contacted Passages but did not receive a reply.

He urged the council to enforce stricter guidelines and suggested exploring ways to eliminate some of the “clustering” that occurs when places such as Passages rent or purchase nearby homes to expand their business and avoid a six-beds-per-residence limitation.

City Councilwoman Laura Rosenthal said clustering is legal under state law.

“We found out you can cluster the group meetings, meals, all those kinds of things,” Rosenthal said. “It actually encourages the clusters of rehabs in neighborhoods.”

Passages runs eight state-certified treatment programs out of its facilities in the Sycamore neighborhood, according to a list published April 15 by the state’s Department of Alcohol and Drugs Programs. Each are residences with five or six beds. There are more than 30 treatment programs total in Malibu, according to the state.

Although the City of Malibu cannot directly license or regulate the facilities, the City Council and staff are strategizing ways to conduct more code enforcement.

“With respect to individual [rehab] operations in the city, we’re watching them very closely…and trying to enforce county and state code where possible,” said City Attorney Christi Hogin.

Mayor Lou La Monte said Malibu has reached out to other cities dealing with similar issues, including Newport Beach. 

“We’re not the only ones dealing with this,” he said.

Despite being bogged down by state regulatory practices, Hogin said Malibu and allied cities band together year after year, lobbying for more city involvement in how treatment centers are regulated.

“The state has put a lot of restrictions on how we can regulate these and in response Malibu and other cities have joined together and have every year gone to Sacramento trying to create more reasonable legislation,” she said.