Toothman only recently learned of halfway house plans
WAYNESBURG – While Greene County Commissioner Farley Toothman admits the county offered to help Sharon Taylor after her zoning battle in Waynesburg almost two years ago, he said he has known of her plans for a halfway house in Jefferson for only two weeks. Toothman said the county is contracted with Turning Point in Washington for halfway house services for women, and the contract included services that could be provided if Turning Point opens a house in Greene County. He said that in his last contact with Taylor, more than 18 months ago, she was still exploring a possible halfway house for women in the county.
But Taylor’s plans apparently have changed.
Taylor plans to open in Jefferson Township a halfway house for men recovering from drug and alcohol addictions and could begin housing residents by November.
Toothman said he learned this past week that the county does not have a contract for Taylor’s proposed home and learned that the site could house residents from all over the state, even if Greene County does not approve a contract with Taylor.
“I didn’t know it would be men only and not based on the contract with the county,” he said. “The county has little to do with what market she wishes to serve, but it is certainly different than a group home to serve Greene County.”
Toothman said he was involved in Taylor’s first Greene County endeavor as a then-member of the county’s Human Services Advisory Board. He said he told Taylor that if she planned to find another location for her women’s halfway house, she should attempt to find a location in a community with zoning.
“Zoning would protect her and she would gain the benefit of that protection,” he said, adding that he never told her to locate her halfway house in an area of the county without zoning.
Toothman said Taylor is planning to run a non-profit corporation with a board of directors and is a different entity than the one the county is contracting with in Washington County. He said he and the other commissioners have a policy of supporting local service providers in bringing services to the county for county residents, but Taylor’s plan appears to be the opposite.
He added that he offered to help Taylor initially, but he never heard from her again until just recently.
While the home already has been purchased and plans are under way, he said the county will get involved with what it can, including plans to hold a meeting with the township supervisors and concerned citizens about the plan.
“The people in Jefferson have a very good reason to question and be concerned, because this sounds like a whole different operation,” Toothman said. “Do people from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh coming into a drug and alcohol halfway house have the cultural similarities that would really, truly blend into the community they talk about in Jefferson?”
Whether or not the men would fit in with the area, Karen Bennett, county human services administrator, said the state has a distinct need for halfway houses for men. She said the only site in western Pennsylvania, in Aliquippa, is constantly filled, and clients either are placed on waiting lists or sent to facilities in central or eastern parts of the state.
Bennett said she received a brief letter from Taylor this summer, which stated that she was “looking at” a house in Jefferson. She said she has learned more about the house since that time, but if Taylor wishes to contract with the county, she will have to come before the Human Services Advisory Board, because the Greene County house is a separate entity from Turning Point in Washington.
She said the board, the commissioners or both could deny Taylor a contract, but she could still house Greene County residents if they have insurance providers that would cover services there. Her office will get involved only if Taylor comes to her and the advisory board with a contract for services.
“My job and responsibility is to offer a continuum of services for people with drug and alcohol problems, and there is a need in Greene County for male residents to go to a halfway house, but I have no comment about, and no role in, where she puts her business.” Bennett said.