A Maryland addiction treatment program that was ordered to cease and desist counseling services has stopped paying rent on at least three properties, according to court documents and interviews, throwing some of its clients who reside in its housing into panic.

PHA Healthcare operated its drug treatment program out of at least 15 properties in West Baltimore and across the state in recent years. Some of them were effectively government-funded drug houses, where patients relapsed and sometimes died, an investigation by The Baltimore Banner and The New York Times revealed in December.

Previously, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Health said PHA Healthcare had chosen to relocate patients in its housing and was cooperating with local and state health authorities “to ensure all patients are transitioned appropriately” after regulators ordered the program to stop treating patients.

However, some clients interviewed by The Banner on Thursday said they are scrambling to find a new place to live, with no offers of help from local or state agencies. They also said PHA Healthcare’s operators have given them little support other than the number of a treatment program to call.

Charlotte Townes, who has lived in a PHA Healthcare-operated building in Mount Vernon since June, said the program’s owners had previously assured residents they would not lose their housing, but that changed Sunday when they told the about half dozen women who lived there they must move out within three weeks because of problems with obtaining a permit. It is unclear what permit that is, and the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Townes said, for the most part, she had positive experiences with PHA Healthcare, which she credited with helping her maintain sobriety after three decades of drug use. But she wished the program would have been more forthcoming.

“I believe in transparency, period. Especially when you’re dealing with people who are basically homeless because of their addiction,” said Townes, who plans to move in with a family member.

But others in her building are not so lucky.

One woman, who asked that her name not be used due to fears of retaliation, said she had burned bridges with many of her relatives throughout her addiction. She gets disability payments through the government but is not able to save enough to rent her own place.

“I have nowhere to go,” she said, adding later that she is calling other programs, including one recommended by a PHA Healthcare staff member.

Brenda Davidson, the sister of a PHA Healthcare client who could be facing homelessness, said she had called city and state agencies dozens of times since Monday, trying to find someone who can help. The people she reached said they would look into the matter but have not yet offered solutions, she said.

Davidson said she is frustrated with apparent inaction from social service agencies after the state’s cease-and-desist notice. “Why were there no people involved in coming in and providing these women services, helping them with housing programs?” she asked. “Why is this being left for these women to do on their own?”

Moving in with her is not an option, Davidson said, because she lives in a part of the country where there are few services available for people like her sister, who is disabled and struggles with mental health disorders and drug addiction.

“The reality of this situation is the next phone call I’m likely to get if she does not have a place to go is from a coroner’s office to ID her body,” Davidson said.

Maryland Department of Health spokesman Chase Cook said the state “continues to work with PHA regarding the transition of services,” but did not answer questions about how. When asked in the past about what the state has done to help patients find new programs or housing, Cook has said the department cannot speak in detail about active investigations.

Adrienne Breidenstine, spokesperson for Behavioral Health System Baltimore, a nonprofit that oversees treatment providers on behalf of the city, said the organization cannot disclose patient information but it has been in touch with several PHA Healthcare clients and helped refer them to other programs.

The city Health Department and Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services have also received calls from PHA Healthcare clients, according to Bryan Doherty, a spokesman for the mayor’s office. They have been referred to the 988 Helpline as Behavioral Health System Baltimore is supporting clients with referrals, he said.

Days after the Times/Banner article was published, the Maryland Department of Health ordered the program to stop treating patients because it was operating without a valid license. PHA Healthcare owner Stephen Thomas said it stopped providing clinical services last month, but clients were reportedly told the program would continue to operate housing.

In response to questions about why PHA Healthcare was forcing residents of the Mount Vernon property to leave and what it was doing to facilitate their transition, company spokesperson Janet Conner-Knox said, “PHA has given each client at least two options to continue their recovery,” adding that this “is the consequence of The Banner’s reckless, biased and one-sided reporting.”

The landlord of the Mount Vernon property, who asked to remain unnamed fearing that being associated with PHA Healthcare would hurt her business, said she recently gave the company a 10-day notice for failing to pay rent but has not asked anyone to vacate the property.

She said she knew little about the tenant who already resided at the property when she purchased it at an auction in August, only that it was a health care company. She was “shocked and horrified” upon learning about the conditions some of PHA Healthcare’s patients faced in other buildings.

Other clients may also be facing an uncertain future. Two landlords have filed to evict PHA Healthcare from other properties in Montgomery County and Baltimore’s Park Heights neighborhood, court records show.

The eviction complaints, filed in court more than a week ago, say PHA Healthcare has not paid rent since December, owing one landlord more than $17,200 and the other nearly $83,200.

Conner-Knox did not answer questions about what will happen to clients who live in the properties from which PHA Healthcare is facing evictions and how many people will be affected.

Court records show the property manager for the Montgomery County building emailed a PHA Healthcare operator last month, saying the company’s lease would not be renewed and asking when it planned to notify the landlord about the state’s cease-and-desist notice, as reported by The Banner.

In the email, the property manager, Christelle Zeutsa, said the residents of the building had lived for nine months without working air conditioning or heat — a problem that PHA Healthcare was aware of but failed to communicate to the landlord to fix. Zeutsa told The Banner on Thursday that there were still people staying in the property, even though PHA Healthcare cut off power to the building.

A representative of the Park Heights property did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Need help?

For referrals to other programs, clients of PHA Healthcare can call or text the 988 helpline, created for people experiencing mental health and substance use emergencies.

“The Helpline staff are aware of the PHA situation and are ready to help,” said Breidenstine, the spokesperson for Behavioral Health System Baltimore.

People that are having trouble finding services can also do the following, according to the state department of health.

• Contact Behavioral Health System Baltimore at 410-637-1900
• Contact the state’s Behavioral Health Administration at 410-402-8198
• Check out housing resources at https://dhcd.baltimorecity.gov/legal-resources-renters-baltimore-city/

For more advice on how to find addiction and mental health treatment in Maryland, read this guide.