My name is Chris McFadden. It's M-C-F-A-D-D-E-N.
Your affiliation with this product, this application?
I'm the president of the corporation.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
I think you've been listening to some of the questions. Maybe you can clear some of these issues up for us.
Yes. This facility has been in use as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program for much longer than I have been affiliated with the organization, and it has been utilized for these services since, as you referenced, in the late 90s as a state-licensed entity within the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
and the uh the couple of the excuse me this is sharon's word again it may have been used as such
but there is no record of a city zoning approval for that use
that that has been our understanding since uh since i've been affiliated with the
the organization that's how the organization has been utilized for
a number of of decades
you concur that it has been it's not legalized
I do hear what you are all saying as far as the the zoning but the utilization of the program for
the 27 women that are the 27 vulnerable women in the city is the way that the service model
has been developed with helping with drug and alcohol programs.
Then can I ask, was there something that prompted you to seek a permit for it at this point?
Was there a violation notice? No, ma'am. As Attorney Devine referenced, what we are
attempting to do is be able to provide additional services for the folks that are already in
our program. And we do also have our program director on the call, and he is saying that
this is also in the exhibit. I know we haven't been able to get some of that up on the screen,
but we have 27, we basically have 23 beds in the program. 12 beds are utilized for these
inpatient services for the 12 women. And then the other beds are also used as a service for
within our nonprofit faith-based program. And what we are looking to do is be able to provide
And what we are looking to do is be able to provide additional counseling services within our current facility, our current staffing for these women.
additional counseling services.
Mr. Richardson, you can ask a question through the board.
Mr. Chair, I'm still trying to figure out, are they trying to legally, when he says inpatient
services, what are those inpatient services that are being provided? Because when I'm looking at
the refusal, it says something about a home for wayward girls, wayward women, but it doesn't
necessarily say anything about inpatient treatment. It sounds like they've been providing treatment,
now they're trying to expand that treatment, and we don't know whether or not this is even
legal at this point in time. What treatment have you been providing? Within the state of
well obviously within Pennsylvania there's a 3.5 model which is inpatient counseling services. So
we provide counseling for the women that live at the facility and that is in the first portion of
the program and the second portion of the program which is what we are talking about today is to
provide additional counseling services under the designation of outpatient services or group
practitioner. So it's counseling. It's all counseling services. It is not a methadone
clinic. There is none of that happening at our facility. Mr. Chair and board, one other
question I would have then is if you're providing counseling, isn't that considered a medical use?
it isn't it would i do not believe it would be a medical use for the the program as a counseling
center i do have a question when the girls arrive there are they detoxed if all you and i'm asking
that because of all you provide is counseling yes our our corporation we have 10 locations
throughout Pennsylvania, our main site is in Berks County. So when a female is in need of
detox services, they will come to our other campus that is in Berks County, where we will take care
of those medical, you know, the biological side of the addiction. And then once they complete that
portion of the program, we then are able to transfer them down to our site down there.
So we do take care of those things prior to coming down.
Anybody? Sharon, you have anything else to add?
No, it sounds to me as though this is a legalization and expansion of the existing use, but in
either case it requires um it requires a variance right and there was a question uh mr mcfarland
maybe you can answer there was someone uh i think miss um mckelvaney i think i have her name correct
she mentioned something about a garage yeah there it's we have uh two two buildings on the uh the
property and one of the buildings uh was a former garage but it's been a it's a fully renovated
building so it is not right now it's there's a couple of offices and then there's a large group
space and and there are i believe there are uh pictures that jim if you can yeah we haven't
been able to access those are you able to pull that up jim it's showing on our screen that they
are pulled up no there's nothing on that could you could you maybe email it okay here we go yes
coming up can you go to the pictures yes
Thank you.
here we go
Mr. McFadden, can you walk us through what we're seeing?
Sure, that's just the inside of the building. That's probably not the
best picture right there of the front window. Here we go.
There's the entrance into the building. You can see right there on the right is the
first office, right where this pointer of the screen is, and then right beside that is the
other other office and then you can see a bookshelf with a little desk there and
then all the way to the left of theirs I'm sure we'll go down to the next
picture. That's the other office. The parking lot, the garage. Yeah and there's
the outside of the building. And then there's a big yard around the back that probably goes
for 50 to 100 feet. And yeah, there's the parking area. And you can see it from on top
there, especially on the bottom picture there with the parking and everything there. And
And that's just the inside of the building, so you can see it's a nice building.
So this is presently being used for individual therapy and group therapy?
Yes, ma'am.
Okay, thank you.
And that's the larger building right there.
And you can see then that's the street, if you can see on the left side of the house there.
We've been serving a very vulnerable group of folks for over 40 years down in Philadelphia.
And that's really our main purpose here is that we serve a very vulnerable group of women
in our communities, and we provide a valuable service at this location.
And the main thing that we're really trying to do here is just add a level of counseling
services to our second phase of our program, just to be able to provide better recovery
support services.
all right uh
mr richardson yes mr chair you uh you have a better sense of what we're talking about now
uh i do i still uh it still looks to us like it's a legalization of the services that they're
already providing without having obtained the variance in the first place uh just so that you
know the councilwoman is opposed and she joins the uh three rcos that uh oppose this uh variance
and uh at this point she's looking at that the same the same things that well this is she raised
the issues in the first place so um you know that's all i can pretty much say about this at this time
chair i have a question is opposed to the legalization granting this variance uh which
will be again legalizing what it is that they're already doing that's expanding on what what is
what's already essentially illegal services i have a question since this is about an expansion
is it going to require a new staff and if so how many no no ma'am it won't
no new staff thank you
how many staff are presently there i don't i don't have the exact number i know
greg would but it's it's somewhere probably around 10. thank you
Another question then, Mr. Chair and board members.
One other question then, Mr. Chair and board members. Is the practitioner that you're
talking about legalizing, is that person already on staff?
It would be part of our counseling team that's already existed. So again, no addition of
staffing.
Yes. Just to be clear, there isn't a group practitioner. It's the type of counseling
that is being provided that is simply being enhanced to the second tier as described by
mr mcfadden this is operating i believe that there's also a misrepresentation that this is
illegal activity that we're attempting to legalize this is a transitional home for
folks recovering from their addiction that have already received the medical care required at
the other campus their transition here to continue to address their addiction
and transition back into regular normal life coping with their addiction they
are provided non-medical counseling to address the triggers and the causes of
their addiction by code. Those counseling services are offered at two different levels
and we initially sought this variance to simply allow the existing staff to provide the second
tier of counseling. What is the second tier? Chris?
if they start out the day going into therapy what do they do the rest of the day and if you're going
to elevate it into a second tier of counseling what does that consist of and the way that the
counseling based off of individual group sessions is a full day activity with very limited uh free
time and the uh when we're talking about this other level we're talking about it being extended
FOR SEPARATE PROGRAMS, SEPARATE PHASES WITHIN OUR PROGRAM. SO THE PERSON IS STEPPING DOWN
FROM ONE LEVEL DOWN TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF CARE. SO THAT IS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
TWO PROGRAMS. NEW SPEAKERS, COUNSELOR, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING IN WRITING TO EXPLAIN THE DEFINITION
of these uh programs i i do but i do not have it is it in the exhibits let me pull that up
so let me ask if i'm a neighbor or someone who lives in that vicinity
i walk by that place nothing's going to look any different or feel any different than what
has been going on that's exactly correct is that is that accurate yes absolutely
um excuse me this is sharon again can i pulled up the definition of a group practitioner
and this is what it says office use is related to diagnosis and treatment of human patients
illnesses injuries and physical malfunctions by a state licensed medical dental or health care
professional practitioner that can be performed in an office setting with no overnight care
Surgical rehabilitation and other medical centers that do not involve overnight patient stays are included in this subcategory as our medical and dental laboratories, unless otherwise indicated.
I'm just not seeing what you are describing as fitting within this, and I'm wondering if it requires another review by LNI or a clarification by LNI.
I'm sorry, can you specify the question?
Does it require another review by L&I?
You were refused as a group practitioner.
I just read you the code definition of group practitioner.
Do you agree that there's some discrepancy between what you are proposing and what the
code identifies as a group practitioner yes and that is what i attempted to uh try to articulate
from the beginning the difference between the services that we're providing based upon the
regulations that govern uh the services offered by pa adult and teen challenge versus trying to
square that title and definition with the code that we're seeking under the
variants and that the identification of a group practitioner from the outset
the the identification of a group practitioner from the outset has been a misnomer okay in in
that case i'd suggest that this this be continued and that um i can request a clarification from
ellen i or perhaps refer you to someone there because if you were to get a variance even if
this were granted by the board for a group practitioner if that is not what you're proposing
then your permit would not cover the use
that you are proposing.
Right.
And it would expand arguably beyond what we're proposing.
Chair, would that be acceptable to expand?
I think that's a good suggestion, yeah.
There are a number of folks who want to testify.
We're going to continue this.
This will be a resumption hearing
at which time the community will still be able to weigh in.
But we need some more clarification as our solicitor just suggested.
So without any other, without any objection, MI 2020-001076, 329 East Worcester Street.
This hearing will be resumed. Do we have a date, Jason?
March 3rd.
Thank you, Tanya. March 3rd at 9.30?
3rd or March 30th?
Sorry?
Question?
Question?
I'm sorry.
He asked if it was March 3rd or March 30th?
March 3rd, number 3. March 3rd at 9.30 a.m.?
at which time we'll consider any feedback from Sharon as it relates to L&I
and any feedback from the RCO and the Councilwoman's office.
We've got to get some clarity on this.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I think that concludes the 930 list.
Any other unfinished business?
Nothing I have.
Thank you.
Thank you, Sharon.
All right.
See you all back at 1.45.
I think we're having an executive session.
Yes, I'll send out an invitation.
Thank you.
All righty.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Excuse me, Tanya.
yes sorry i wouldn't know if you had left um i was just wondering do you need me to um
come on to the zoom at 145 or should i still wait until oh no that's a separate meeting
okay so we'll be starting at regular time but we'll be doing a separate meeting as all right
thank you time you're welcome pauline thank you bye-bye bye
Thank you.