Alcohol and other drug programs: complaints.

Assembly Member Davies’s measure would require the department that licenses alcohol and other drug recovery or treatment facilities to deliver two targeted notices to the person who files a public complaint: a receipt notice within 10 days of the complaint’s date, and a closure notice at the conclusion of the investigation indicating whether the facility was found to be in violation of the relevant licensure provisions.

The requirement applies when the complaint comes from a member of the public against a licensed facility or against a facility alleged to be in violation of the licensure framework, and it adds a new procedural rule to the Health and Safety Code while leaving licensure standards, investigation procedures, and penalties unchanged. The bill does not create new enforcement remedies or adjust the substantive criteria for licensure, nor does it mandate public disclosure of findings beyond notifying the filer.

Implementation considerations center on administrative logistics: the department would need to track complaints, ensure timely receipt notices, and issue closure notices with outcome information. The measure is subject to fiscal review by a committee but does not authorize an appropriation, and the text does not specify an operative date. Ambiguities include how to handle anonymous or unreachable complainants, how to interpret the “date of the complaint” for the 10-day window, and what constitutes “closing” a complaint without a defined timeline.