Sovereign Health Files Complaint Against San Clemente Residents

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Sept. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, Sept. 6, Sovereign Health, a leading national behavioral health service provider, filed a complaint against San Clemente residents Nathan Brown, Jodi Brown and Chris Penna. The Browns and Penna are residents in the Shorecliffs area of San Clemente on Via San Gorgonio who trespassed into a private home last month and verbally threatened those inside. According to the complaint filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Orange-Central District, on Aug. 11, the defendants charged into the private home, yelled expletives at those inside, and took photographs and video of the inside of the home. Days later on Aug. 17, one of the defendants trespassed onto the driveway of the home in question and threatened to burn down the house. On Aug. 19, another defendant made additional verbal threats to the occupants of the house. The individuals inside the home were employees of Sovereign Health and were there to prepare it for the future arrival of patients. A copy of the complaint is available here.

As noted in the filing under First Claim for Relief, the Plaintiff (Dual Diagnosis Treatment Center, Inc., a California corporation dba Sovereign Health of California) "intends to operate a residential addiction treatment program located in San Clemente, California. The residents at Dual Diagnosis will be disabled persons protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act." Also stated in that same section of the complaint, "Defendants are in direct violation of the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 3617 by interfering with the right of the residents to reside free of harassment at the Center provided by Dual Diagnosis."

The defendants, as well as additional residents on Via San Gorgonio, have demanded that the home in question be licensed per state regulations. What these neighbors didn't know, because they never asked, is that Sovereign Health has always planned to give this community exactly what it wants: a licensed facility in full compliance with California state regulations. The license for the home is currently being processed by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). No patients will reside in the home until all the licensure has been completed.

The animus surrounding the treatment for behavioral health patients demonstrates the ongoing real need for Sovereign's residential housing and other service providers' facilities to be protected by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These patients are clearly identified as a protected class. The type of outrageous behavior demonstrated by these San Clemente residents will continue as long as the city of San Clemente's government officials continue to stoke the flame of discontentment within the community for political gain. Because of the city's bias, San Clemente citizens feel empowered to commit these dangerous acts of vigilantism.

Patients seek the services of Sovereign Health to receive treatment for mental health issues including trauma, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Sovereign also offers treatment for cognitive deficits and eating disorders. The patient population includes male and female patients covering a broad range of ages, from adolescents to adults and senior citizens. Sovereign Health is also proud to serve active United States military personnel and returning war veterans.  

About Sovereign Health

Sovereign Health's mission is to provide a broad spectrum of high-quality behavioral health treatment services for adults and adolescents, including support services for family members. One factor that differentiates Sovereign from other treatment providers has been the company's ability to offer separate mental health and addiction or dual diagnosis treatment programs at its facilities. For more information, visit www.sovhealth.com.  

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SOURCE Sovereign Health

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