Drug Counselors Face Next To No Background Checks In California

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A man was convicted of more than 100 counts of sex acts with children in Los Angeles. He went to prison, but this report says when he got out, he registered as a drug counselor.

A woman in Santa Rosa, with four previous theft convictions became a drug counselor. During that time she embezzled $50,000 from one of her clients suffering from drug addiction.

Rapists, thieves and drug addicts are becoming drug abuse counselors without a background check, or any oversight from the state of California, a new study has found.

Odds are the company you work for has stricter background check requirements than the state has for drug-abuse counselors who are doing the work required by the courts.

John Hill with the senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes says at least two-dozen sex offenders statewide are, or were working as, drug abuse counselors.

"Some people with criminal backgrounds might be suitable to work as counselors," Hill said. "The point is no one is looking, seeing what the circumstances were.

California is one of only two states that does not do background checks for substance abuse counselors, or require them to self-report if they are arrested.

Seven organizations in the state, like the Breining Institute in Sacramento, certify and register counselors, but they aren't required to do background checks, either.

Hill says in some cases, he found the drug-abuse counselors had the same problems as the people they were treating.

"I found a number of cases of people who had become counselors were convicted of drug offenses or DUIs while they were counselors," Hill said."

He says the state needs to act soon, and some lawmakers agree.

"I think it speaks to the need of urgent action, and that ought to be taken as quickly as possible," said state Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.

But the rush must not be that urgent. In 2009, a bill was introduced that would put background checks and licensing in the hands of the state. That bill died in committee.