Gov. Bryant issues letter critical of Oxford House

Gov. Phil Bryant has sent a letter to the Department of Mental Health opposing the agency providing seed money to help Oxford House to open group homes in the state for recovering alcoholics and former drug addicts.

"The Department of Mental Health should end its financial support of Oxford House Inc. and its outreach workers," Bryant said in a May 20 letter to Department of Mental Health Executive Director Diana Mikula and board members. "Oxford House Inc. has has been more focused on expanding its footprint in Mississippi than on providing the time, peer support and living environment necessary to support long-term recovery for existing residents."

A firestorm of controversy erupted after Oxford House opened a house at 2230 East Northside Drive in northeast Jackson on April 1. Residents raised concerns about children safety and property values with the group home in their neighborhood.

Mississippi Department of Mental Health spokeswoman Wendy Bailey has said the department provides grants to Oxford House made available by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration which serves two purposes — provides seed money for an Oxford House to be established, and now funds four outreach workers. The role of the outreach worker is to monitor the Oxford House model, which is evidence-based, she said.

To date, all Oxford Houses have received a grant for up to $4,000 per House as seed money to establish the House, Bailey said. No money is provided to any resident. The seed money is revolving — each Oxford House is required to repay the money which is used again to establish another Oxford House.

"Oxford Houses are homes — not facilities. DMH does not regulate homes," Bailey said. "No direct therapeutic services are provided in Oxford Houses. Oxford House is an evidence-based model and Oxford House Inc. is listed on SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence Based Programs and Practices.

Since 2013, Mississippi has opened 13 Oxford Houses with a total of 82 beds. Oxford House is now listing 15 houses in Mississippi with the new one on East Northside Drive and a new one on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

According to Oxford House, residents of their houses have to have a job within two weeks of admission, they pay a weekly rent, and everyone has their own roles and responsibilities. There are guidelines regarding curfew, visitation and behavior, and residents also follow regular chore assignments to take care of household duties. It has a zero tolerance policy for any kind of relapse. Someone who is discovered to be using drugs or alcohol again will be asked to leave within 15 minutes.

Oxford House listed last year that 76 percent of its tenants nationwide had arrest records and that the recidivism rate was 16.7 percent.

Bailey said six more Oxford Houses are expected to open by the end of this year.

Contact Jimmie E. Gates at (601) 961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.