Jasmine Richardson has struggled with methamphetamine and fentanyl addiction for more than a decade, but after completing a six-month program at the Freehab Center, a youth program on Sunland Avenue in Sun Valley, she Became sober.
That was around Thanksgiving last year, and it was the first time the 33-year-old had stayed clean in years. Still, she’s not ready to leave Freehab just yet. She has been homeless since 2020 and wants to stay in a 74-bed rehabilitation facility for at least a year before finding temporary housing. She then hopes to move her teenage son to Los Angeles to live with her and pursue her dream of becoming a veterinary technician.
All of that was interrupted when the Los Angeles City Fire Department closed the facility on Dec. 4, citing building and fire code violations, officials said. The group of 43 women, who include survivors of human trafficking, substance abuse and homelessness, had several hours to pack their belongings and find new places to live.
Richardson’s mother, Janet Dooley, picked her up from Freehab and took her back to Dooley’s home in Huntington Beach. Eight days later, Dooley found his daughter dead from an overdose of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Jasmine Richardson was in high school in Montana in the 2000s.
(Janet Dooley)
“I believe if this place hadn’t been closed down,” Dooley said, “she would still be alive today.”
More than six months after the closure, the Teen Project, the nonprofit that operates Freehab, filed a lawsuit against the facility’s owner, A&E Development Co., bringing the question of why it was forced to close to the forefront. The nonprofit claims A&E violated its lease and failed to maintain compliance with building codes, codes, permits and ordinances, resulting in the rehabilitation center’s closure.
The group is seeking at least $5 million in damages.
On a GoFundMe page created to raise money for the new treatment facility, Teen Project accused the landlord of “refuseing to ensure the upkeep of the building” and the fire department being “unwilling to compromise and step up to its own plate, even if it costs our girls The cost of life.
Freehab has been ordered multiple times since at least September to obtain fire permits to operate a residential care facility, hire fire watch crews and install automated fire protection throughout the area, according to safety violation notices from the Los Angeles City Fire Department obtained by The Times. Sprinkler.
The organization was notified via email and a letter sent to the Sun Valley facility, according to the notice.
The alleged security issues apparently date back much further. According to Fox 11, LAFD Assistant Fire Chief Kristine Larson told Freehab staff in December: “In 2020, the building was required to have sprinklers installed, but it did not have sprinklers; therefore, it was unsafe for overnight use.
Lauri Burns, executive officer of youth programs, said via email that she discovered the alleged violations a week before the closure.
“They said they weren’t going to shut us down and that they would give us plenty of time to fix the problem, and then they came back a week later and shut us down without notice,” Burns added.
After learning of the violations, Burns said Freehab complied with nearly all of the requirements and paid about $7,000 a week to have firefighters on site around the clock. She said they were unable to install sprinklers because the process would take at least a month and require permits and inspections.
In April, case manager Priscilla Nunez helps organize the dining area of the new youth program facility in Van Nuys.
(Gina Ferrazzi/Los Angeles Times)
In the Jan. 31 lawsuit, Teen Project claims A&E failed to address Freehab’s rat and maggot problems, ignored unauthorized trailers and homeless people in Freehab’s shared parking lot, and failed to reimburse Teen Project for replacement of the HVAC system. and other facility fees.
Freehab was forced to close due to A&E’s “inability to provide a usable/safe space for its intended use,” according to the lawsuit.
“Residents cared for by the youth program suffered traumatic injuries, fell outside the safety net, and days later, a young woman relapsed and died,” the lawsuit states.
In court documents, A&E denied responsibility for closing the rehab center, saying “the facts and the law are clear that A&E was not responsible for ensuring that the site could be used as a rehab facility.” A&E argued that after the Fire Department and the California Department of Health Care Services The Youth Project “voluntarily vacated” the rehabilitation center after the facility’s operating license was revoked.
A&E said that after Freehab closed, it received notice from the teen program requiring A&E to bring Freehab into compliance. But according to A&E, the lease requires it to address issues raised within six months of the start of the lease. Teen Project terminated the lease on January 19 because Freehab’s operating conditions were not met.
LAFD said in a Dec. 5 statement after Freehab closed that the agency “will continue to provide guidance to building owners and tenants regarding compliance with fire violations and change-of-use permits to ensure the safety of buildings.” and property.
“The California Department of Health Care Services is responsible for ensuring that such facilities comply with fire codes and questions regarding the status of the facility’s operating license should be directed to them,” the statement read. “They are also responsible for housing any displaced residents.”
LAFD spokesperson Karla Tovar said 2020 fire code changes require sprinklers to be installed in the type of building where Freehab is located. The alleged violations were discovered during a fire inspection and “we conducted extensive research with a number of other agencies before the facility was closed,” she said.
In response to the youth program’s allegation that LAFD’s actions contributed in part to the overdose death of a Freehab client, Tovar said in an emailed statement:
“LAFD is committed to protecting life, protecting property and protecting our communities. Ensuring buildings are operating in compliance with fire and life safety codes is an issue we take seriously for our residents, customers, employees and property owners.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Health Care Services confirmed that Freehab was deemed not to be in compliance with fire codes. The agency said it was able to get 32 of the 43 women into other treatment centers in Los Angeles.
The Youth Project, which takes its name from “teens who have exited foster care due to homelessness and human trafficking,” opened a new facility called the Van Nuys Shelter in June, according to Burns. Melissa Coons, program director for youth programs, said at least 10 women who remain at Freehab have reached out and asked about getting a spot at the new center.
“They have a safe place and we really try to make the place feel like a home rather than an institution,” she said. “We’re excited to get back to helping girls in our community.”
Dooley said Richardson’s problems began in middle school when she became depressed and began self-medicating with marijuana. When she was 18, her father died and she started using methamphetamine, which snowballed from side to side. Richardson, her ex-boyfriend and her son lived with Dooley until the outbreak, when Dooley said she had to evict them.
Yesenia Sanchez, who attended a youth program for substance abuse, now works as a cook at the new facility.
(Gina Ferrazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“Things got worse and worse and I had to take them out because I couldn’t live like that,” Dooley added.
When the rehab center closed, Richardson didn’t know what to do. According to her mother, she considered attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings. She texted staff at the youth program to ask if she could live in temporary housing.
Dooley dropped Richardson off at the courthouse on Dec. 11 to handle legal matters, but didn’t hear from her for several hours. Richardson came home late and said she was with friends. Dooley got up for work around 3 a.m. and when she got home five hours later, she found Richardson had overdosed.
When Freehab closed, “Molly was very frustrated and scared,” Coons said. “Originally, she wanted to stay with us for a year and she never really wavered.”
Tom Wolf, a recovering fentanyl and heroin addict who founded the Pacific Alliance for Prevention and Recovery, said structure and routine are especially important in early recovery. Major emotional events, such as a death in the family, a job loss, or a breakup, can lead to a relapse.
“These people are displaced, and even if they get shelter or housing in another program, they’ve lost their friendships, their support system, the structure of that particular program,” he said. “If you immediately transition out of a program after years of homelessness, With all that stuff out of people’s hands, it’s easy to go back to the street and buy fentanyl for $5 and relapse.”
Yesenia Sanchez, 31, had struggled with alcohol addiction but has been sober for more than two years after completing Freehab’s six-month program. She started as an intern in the kitchen and later became a full-time chef at the establishment.
She wasn’t working the day the rehab center was forced to close, but as soon as she heard the news it was closing, she rushed to help the women find alternative housing. Some of them had to return to street life, she said.
“It’s really hard because we’re helping those girls every day and we just don’t have enough time,” she said.
Another former Freehab client, Casey Anderson, relapsed almost immediately after the facility closed. Anderson began abusing Ritalin as a teenager before becoming addicted to methamphetamine. She was homeless for more than a year, sleeping in various parks in Lancaster, before deciding she needed help.
Casey Anderson outside her sponsor’s home in Simi Valley.
(Michael Blackshear/Los Angeles Times)
Anderson began living at Freehab in June 2023, two weeks before work was completed when the facility closed.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “We all felt safe. We all felt like we had a place to go and then all of a sudden, it was taken away from us.
Anderson didn’t think she needed to enter another program after the rehab center closed. Instead, she returned to Lancaster to live with her parents and soon returned to drugs. In early April, she contacted a program director in the youth program and got on the waiting list for a new facility in Van Nuys, where she moved June 6.
She is sober again and hopes to resume pursuing her dream of becoming a preschool teacher. Meanwhile, she recently found a job as a certified alcohol and drug technician.
“I thought I was ready to leave, but I wasn’t,” Anderson said. “I only had two weeks left, but it turns out I actually needed more. I probably would have known that if we had had more time to study it.
