As Drug Overdoses Climbed the State Failed to Inspect Residential Treatment Programs

SAY IT ISN’T SO SANTA –

Dec. 3, 2021 – “The COVID pandemic wreaked havoc in the lives of many New Yorkers, including those vulnerable to addiction,” said DiNapoli. “Skyrocketing substance abuse over the past 18 months has created an overwhelming need for addiction treatment and recovery services. The Office of Addiction Services and Supports was inadequately inspecting and certifying residential treatment programs even before that, but when the state hit pause on inspections at residential treatment facilities during the pandemic, it put patients’ safety, security and treatment at even greater risk. We can never abandon vulnerable New Yorkers. I expect the agency to take swift steps to ensure these facilities are up to standards and providing the best care possible to all New Yorkers in need of their help.”

In a letter to the federal Department of Health and Human Services regarding its plan to use grant funding, OASAS noted that the 4,415 drug overdose deaths in New York from September 2019 to August 2020 reversed two years of declines.