Philadelphia lawmakers on Monday advanced legislation that would limit the location of mobile addiction services in Kensington after an emotional hearing marked by disagreements between service providers and City Council members.
Lawmakers on the council’s Licensing and Inspections Committee voted 3-1 to approve a bill that would prohibit mobile health care and supply units from operating in apartment buildings and near schools, or within 100 feet of each other. City-provided services are exempt from restrictions that apply only to Council Districts 6 and 7, which cover parts of Kensington and stretch from Hunting Park to the Lower Northeast.
A final vote on the bill by the full House could take place as early as next week. If passed, it would go to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s desk and, if approved, would go into effect within 90 days.
The bill is part of a concerted effort at City Hall to address the open drug market in Kensington, the epicenter of the city’s opioid epidemic, where hundreds of people live on the streets. Council members who support the legislation said mobile units – which are typically vans operated by doctors or volunteers providing food and medical services such as wound care – are not regulated and are parked in residential areas, attracting nuisance crime and leaving scattered garbage.
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City Councilwoman Quetcy Lozada, a Democrat representing the 7th District and author of the bill, said its goal is to prevent service providers from congregate near schools or homes. Lozada said she wrote the regulations after asking the administration to create a schedule or map to better coordinate services, “but that didn’t happen.”
“The goal is not to end mobile carrier services,” Lozada said. “The purpose of this bill is to ensure that we do not disrupt the everyday lives of people in apartment buildings.”
Roberto Rodriguez, commercial corridor manager for Impact Community Development Corporation in Kensington, added that the unregulated nature of mobile service providers poses a “serious public health risk” to petite businesses and residents.
“While I recognize the good intentions behind distributing food and other goods to those in need, the reality is that this practice is devastating to our neighborhood,” he said.
Parker Health Commissioner Frank Franklin told the committee that the administration supports the bill, but said the language is ambiguous and that enforcing it could be a challenge.
Tensions are rising over the potential impact
A range of providers, from hospital system representatives to individual activists, testified against the legislation, saying the restrictions could make it more complex reach the people they intend to serve. Several said the legislation does not address the underlying problems plaguing the area and instead focuses on response.
“I wish I could say that people are flocking to Kensington in droves for great, free health care, but that’s not happening there,” said Kara Cohen, a nurse who works on the street for Project HOME, a nationally known nonprofit. fighting homelessness. “They are there because of the open drug market and they are there because of the drug dealers.”
Candice Player, Project HOME’s vice president of advocacy and street outreach, said the group’s teams respond to calls for support and provide a range of services, including medical care, to residents throughout the city. But she said the legislation would hinder their ability to engage with Kensington residents by limiting where they could respond.
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In a heated exchange, City Council member Jim Harrity, a Democrat who lives in Kensington, repeatedly asked Player about “the number of homeless addicts you have taken off the streets of Kensington” and placed in apartments. She said she didn’t have the number but wrote it down the organization has over 1,000 apartments available for people with a history of homelessness and addiction.
Harrity, who has been open about his recovery from addiction, said Player couldn’t answer a “simple” question and suggested the organization had not made it a priority to get people in Kensington off the streets.
“If you keep giving addicts things they don’t have, they’ll have less of a reason to get into recovery,” he said.
Lozada similarly said she is fighting for longtime Kensington residents who she believes have been deprioritized due to the city’s focus on harm reduction, which aims to keep addicts alive until they are ready for treatment.
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Lozada, who has been leading efforts to change how the city handles the crisis in Kensington, got into a heated exchange with the Rev. Phillip Geliebter, archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, who works as a street aid in Kensington.
He explained that serving the people of the area is a key part of his faith and was critical of the bill, saying it would prevent mobile service providers “from most areas of Kensington.”
“This will cause harm and death to homeless residents of Kensington,” he said.
Lozada said she, too, is a person of faith and is called to ensure the safety of the entire community.
“For a very long time we have prioritized harm reduction and ways to reduce harm and ignored the entire community of people,” she said. “As a government and as people of faith, we must respond responsibly to the needs of both populations.”
City council member Nicolas O’Rourke of the progressive Working Families Party was the only member to vote against further changes to the regulations, saying they did not address the roots of the problem.
“If this is a job that keeps people alive and gives them a chance to get through the dark times, we can’t just wipe it off the board,” O’Rourke said. “Philadelphians who choose to help those in need don’t need any more obstacles to overcome. They need our help.”
