Addicts see aid slashed

THE RECENTLY eliminated $149 million state-funded general-assistance public-welfare program helped many recovering addicts pay their rent at recovery homes.

Drug-recovery-house operators, experts and city officials expect big changes in the industry and worry that those in recovery may wind up on the street.

"Forty percent of people who live in recovery houses receive general assistance. Landlords rely on that income," said Michael Froehlich, staff attorney with Community Legal Services. "Without [general assistance, there's] no way they can pay. Love [recovery homes] or hate them, they're going to have much more of a hard time existing."

General cash assistance provided $205 a month each to more than 35,000 Philadelphians, including those in recovery. Before the program ended, 66 percent of adults in recovery said it was difficult to afford their housing payments, according to a survey by the Public Health Management Corp.

"The elimination reflects the difficult decisions we had to make," said Anne Bale, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. "It's not something we wanted to do."

Bale said there are other programs from which that population may be able to benefit, like federal Supplemental Security Income, food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

- Jan Ransom