Senators Demand Investigation Into Rehab Centers That Use Patients for Free Labor

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin have requested a formal look into a “shadow workforce” at federally funded substance rehabilitation centers. According to a recent Reveal investigation, 300 vocational centers have been using unpaid workers, many in hazardous settings, as well as waiving all worker benefits for patients—in one case, using patients to clean up dead animals in a zoo.  

“We had to clean up blood and stuff, which I didn't feel comfortable doing, because you're supposed to have a hazmat team supposed to be doing that stuff,” said Breden Earl, who served one year at the Synergy Foundation rehabilitation center in Tennessee, according to The Center for Investigative Reporting. “It was literally one of them situations where I was never able to say no.” 

Predatory admittance contracts are seemingly to blame. According to the senators’ letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), rehabilitation participants are required to sign contracts waiving them of any employment status. This is illegal, the letter states. Patients are falling prey to such conditions because their alternative is to check out of therapy and in some cases, be sent to prison. 

“Individuals struggling with substance use disorder who attend rehabilitation programs should never be subjected to predatory conditions that threaten their recovery and violate their rights under the law,” the senators write. “Federal funding dedicated to supporting individuals and communities navigating substance use disorder must be used in service of evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery,”

The Center for Investigative Reporting says they started tracking these occurrences about three years ago. Initially considered a concentrated occurrence, this malpractice is a country-wide phenomenon with centers in 44 different states under question. Large and small entities financially benefit from this illegal, “shadow workforce” as the letter calls it. This comes as an added blow to these workers, as the Trump administration’s rollback of labor law enforcement has severely affected low-income workers countrywide.  

Big-name, family-favorite brands are included in the investigation. The senators’ letter to the GAO names Walmart, Williams-Sonoma, and Tyson Foods, Inc. as players in this inhumane labor practice. Factory-style work conditions inherently bring increased risk to these individuals. Admitted with the goal of healing from addiction, a gross paradox exists. Centers and companies are claiming it’s for the patients’ benefits—but the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) says otherwise.

“While research has been conducted on the effectiveness of vocational services and on substance abuse treatment, few studies have addressed the effectiveness of vocational services in substance abuse treatment settings,” the administration says in a study. 

In the letter, both Senators highlight the lack of evidence in vocational rehabilitation stating, “Federal funding dedicated to supporting individuals and communities navigating substance use disorder must be used in service of evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery.”

Both senators are asking for swift action by the GAO. In addition to a general investigation of what’s happening with these workers behind the scenes, the letter asks for specifics of what’s happening with the federal money being pumped into the facilities in question. On the employment angle, the letter asks that GAO evaluate whether mandatory employment is beneficial and supports recovery. It also emphasizes the need to investigate whether there is any evidence that unpaid work has “a therapeutic outcome.”