Commissioner of Health Services v. Youth Challenge of Greater Hartford, Inc.

594 A.2d 958, 219 Conn. 657, 1991 Conn. LEXIS 357
Supreme Court of Connecticut·Decided July 23, 1991·No. 14221·Published·Cited by 55 cases

Opinions

Borden, J.

The issues raised in this appeal from a judgment of contempt and a modification of an injunction are whether: (1) the trial court’s finding that the named defendant, Youth Challenge of Greater Hartford, Inc.,1 was operating a drug and alcohol treatment facility without a license was clearly erroneous; and [659] (2) the trial court’s remedial enforcement order improperly expanded the trial court’s earlier injunction.2 We affirm.

In August, 1986, the plaintiff, the commissioner of health services, filed a petition for enforcement, seeking to enjoin the defendants from operating two unlicensed substance abuse treatment facilities. The trial court, M. Hennessey, J., granted the plaintiff’s request for a permanent, injunction, and this court affirmed the judgment on appeal. Commissioner v. Youth Challenge of Greater Hartford, Inc., 206 Conn. 316, 318-19, 537 A.2d 480 (1988) (Youth Challenge I).

Thereafter, in November, 1988, the plaintiff moved that the defendants be held in contempt, alleging that they were violating the permanent injunction by continuing to operate two unlicensed substance abuse [660] treatment facilities.3 The trial court, Satter, J., held the named defendant in contempt4 and modified the 1986 injunction. The defendant appealed to the Appellate Court, and we transferred that appeal to this court pursuant to Practice Book § 4023.

The facts leading to this appeal are as follows. The defendant operates a licensed substance abuse treatment facility at 15-17 May Street, Hartford. In August, 1986, the plaintiff filed a petition for enforcement seeking to enjoin the defendants from operating two unlicensed substance abuse treatment facilities, the Youth Challenge Ranch (Ranch) in Moosup, and the Youth Challenge Girls’ Home (Girls’ Home) in Hartford. In December, 1986, Judge Hennessey found that the defendants managed and operated the Ranch and the Girls’ Home, and that the Ranch and the Girls’ Home were drug and alcohol treatment facilities operating without a license. See Youth Challenge I, supra, 319.

In particular, Judge Hennessey found that the tax returns of the defendants listed the Girls’ Home as a “drug rehabilitation program,” and the Ranch as a “resident drug program.” The Girls’ Home was described in its brochure as having the purpose of “instilling in the drug dependent person, the incentive to [661] forsake his drug habit for the pursuit of a new life.” The court further found that the Girls’ Home was engaged in detoxification of its residents, and also provided a supervised and supportive living situation for abusing or drug dependent persons, treatment and rehabilitative programs, assessment of the residents’ physical and psychological condition, referral for medical care, psychiatric evaluation and continuing treatment, and storage of medication. Similarly, Judge Hennessey found that the services provided by the Ranch, the second phase of a residential rehabilitation program for males that follows the induction phase at the defendants’ licensed facility, included planned treatment and rehabilitation programs, training and vocational rehabilitation, referral for continuing treatment and/or medical care, dietary services, central storage of medication and administration of medication, assessment of the individual’s physical and psychological condition to determine appropriateness for admission, and ongoing assessments to establish a program for maintaining alcohol and/or drug free status.

Based on these findings, Judge Hennessey concluded that both facilities were drug or alcohol treatment facilities that were required to be licensed under the provisions of General Statutes (Rev. to 1985) § 19a-491 (a).5 [662] The court rendered judgment granting a permanent injunction. The terms of the injunction provided, inter alia, that “[t]he defendants are enjoined from operating any unlicensed facilities providing treatment to drug and/or alcohol dependent persons unless, and until, they obtain a license from the Department of Health Services. . . . ”6

In November, 1988, the plaintiff instituted these proceedings, seeking to have the defendants held in contempt for violation of the injunction, alleging that the defendants were continuing to operate the two unlicensed substance abuse treatment facilities. After four days of hearings, the trial court, Satter, J., found that since the injunction was entered in 1986, the operations at both the Ranch and the Girls’ Home had remained unchanged. The court also found that virtually all of the residents of the Girls’ Home had histories of drug or alcohol abuse problems, a fact it considered relevant under the definition of “substance-dependent persons” as “individuals who are physically or psycho[663] logically reliant upon alcohol or a drug (1) as a result of substance abuse . . . .” Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 19a-495-570 (a) (37). The court also found from an examination of the medical records of numerous residents of the Ranch and the Girls’ Home that the residents were dependent psychologically on drugs, despite the fact that the residents may not have been actively using drugs or experiencing withdrawal symptoms at the time of admission.7 This finding comports with the definition of a substance dependent person pursuant to the department of health service regulation § 19a-495-570 (a) (37).

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Commissioner of Health Services v. Youth Challenge of Greater Hartford, Inc., 594 A.2d 958, 219 Conn. 657, 1991 Conn. LEXIS 357 (Colo. 1991).

594 A.2d 958 (Commissioner of Health Services v. Youth Challenge of Greater Hartford, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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