Philadelphia City Council Special Committee on Kensington will explore barriers to addiction treatment as its first project

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — City Council, this week, passed a resolution allowing the new Special Committee on Kensington to call its first hearing. The committee will explore barriers to accessing drug rehab beds.

“The goal is really to start peeling back some of the layers that we see are related to what is happening in Kensington or the conditions the community has in Kensington,” said committee chair Councilmember Quetcy Lozada.

She says there are a lot of areas to investigate, but the committee has chosen the subject for its first hearing: “One of the things we hear about all the time is access to beds.”

There are 60 outpatient programs available in the city and 2,000 inpatient beds, but Lozada says the people who need them can’t seem to find them. There is often conflicting information about whether rehab beds are readily available for people seeking to recover from addiction.

“We have providers that say, ‘We have beds’ and then we talk to some of those who are suffering from addiction on the street and they say there are no beds available,” said Lozada, whose District 7 includes most of Kensington.

Lozada says she believes there are a number of reasons for the disconnect. There may be beds available but not enough staff. A facility may require clients to have a certain kind of insurance or a particular level of health in order to admit them.

“It’s really challenging. And we’re really trying to figure out what is keeping people from being able to access treatment.”

To end the open drug use that plagues the area, Lozada says, people in addiction must be able to access treatment. She hopes the hearing will help clear the path — “removing some of the barriers, and showing them that it is not difficult to come in and receive the services they need to live healthier lives.”

The hearing is not yet scheduled. Lozada says it will be the first of many, with the goal of finding solutions to the conditions that have been decades in the making in Kensington.