Drug rehabilitation

Federal and state prosecutors charged 15 people in Southern California, with at least eight arrests, in a scheme allegedly siphoning nearly $2 billion from healthcare programs, mostly Medicaid and private insurers. At least six defendants are doctors, including chiropractor Hany Malek and surgeon Dr. Harold Tabaie, accused of making roughly $134 million performing unnecessary invasive artery procedures, plus a network of sham substance abuse treatment centers accounting for over $1.5 billion in false billing. Gov. Gavin Newsom disputed a federal official's framing of California as a fraud hotspot, noting most losses hit federal or private insurance. The case follows a broader Trump administration push against benefits fraud, including a new $25 million whistleblower program, SNAP fraud crackdowns in Ohio, and a new Missouri-DOJ partnership ahead of the midterms.

Cleveland officials told City Council that the city's A Home for Every Neighbor program has helped 239 people find housing since launching in July 2024 under Mayor Justin Bibb, closing 77 campsites citywide. About 75% of those served had been homeless for at least a year, and the city can typically move people from identified campsites into housing within about 11 days. So far in 2025, 41 people have been housed, with 21 more expected soon.

With large encampments largely gone, officials said efforts are shifting toward finding less visible homeless residents sleeping in cars, transit, or doorways. The program, backed by $1.9 million in annual funding, now works with 27 property management firms, charging roughly $1,100-$1,300 in average monthly rent. Officials cited landlord reluctance, missing identification, and outstanding warrants as persistent barriers. Council members pressed on rental damage costs, downtown conditions, and whether Cleveland is absorbing a regional problem. Officials said visible street homelessness has declined, though broader homelessness trends remain uncertain amid rising costs and benefit cuts.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 802, requiring Sacramento city and county, along with Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Folsom, to form a joint powers authority to coordinate the region's homelessness response by January 2028. It marks the first time California's Legislature has mandated such an arrangement, which is typically voluntary, and supporters say it could set a template for other regions where cities and counties often clash over responsibility for shelter beds and services.

The law follows decades of dysfunction in Sacramento, where nearly 90 officials across eight boards worked without coordination. The city supports the measure, but Sacramento County and Folsom oppose being forced into cooperation and are threatening legal action. Critics point to the troubled Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, now under federal scrutiny and defunded by the county, as a cautionary example, while supporters cite Solano County's joint authority, formed in 2022, as a working model. The outcome could influence how other California counties structure future homelessness governance.

Sen. Mitch McConnell continued his return to the Senate this week, casting his first vote in more than three months on Monday after a five-week recess and appearing again Tuesday, when he voted to advance cryptocurrency legislation known as the Clarity Act. The Kentucky Republican, 84, had been out of public view since being hospitalized June 14 following a fall and a slight case of pneumonia, later moving to a rehabilitation center before being discharged August 6 to continue recovery and physical therapy at home. He has been seen being pushed onto the floor in a wheelchair.

Reaction has split along party lines. Kentucky Republicans, including Senate President Robert Stivers, praised McConnell's dedication and wished him well. Democrats, including Gov. Andy Beshear and Rep. Morgan McGarvey, welcomed his return but renewed calls for greater transparency about his health and absence.

McConnell has said his recovery has been "long and often frustrating," compounded by lingering effects of childhood polio, and that he is not yet back to full strength. He has assured Majority Leader John Thune he will keep up physical therapy and attend key votes, including a stalled farm bill in committee and looming government funding deadlines before the fiscal year ends September 30.

Two years after California voters passed Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime measure that let people charged with drug felonies opt into treatment instead of jail, an analysis of data from the state's largest counties finds few defendants actually completing treatment or having charges dismissed. Of 18,666 felony drug cases charged statewide last year, only 17% of defendants opted for treatment, and just 57 cases ended in dismissal after graduation. Implementation varies widely: some counties, like San Francisco, have made almost no arrests under the law, while others impose treatment periods ranging from three months to two years.

Prop. 36 passed without dedicated funding, and subsequent state budget allocations have fallen far short of what counties say they need. Shortages of treatment beds, case managers, and housing have left many participants, a large share of them homeless, unable to get consistent care. Old convictions with no statute of limitations have also triggered felony charges for people who had been sober for years. Prison admissions under the law are rising, though supporters argue the program is still helping people who otherwise would not seek treatment.

A new Ohio legislative study committee, co-chaired by Rep. Andrea White (R-Kettering), held its first hearing to examine how the state handles youth adjudicated delinquent. The panel grew out of earlier legislation aimed at holding juvenile group homes accountable, after lawmakers learned that many delinquent youth are placed with children's services agencies rather than detention facilities, often alongside abused or traumatized foster children.

Testimony pointed to Ohio's RECLAIM program, which financially incentivizes judges to divert youth from state detention, shifting costs and responsibility onto an already strained child protective services system. Officials described rising, sometimes exploitative, placement rates charged by group home providers, and a concentration of homes in high-poverty Dayton-area neighborhoods where inexperienced staff and out-of-town placements have coincided with safety incidents, including assaults on residents. Committee members, including Rep. Erika White (D-Springfield Twp.), stressed balancing accountability with rehabilitation. The committee plans to issue a report with recommendations before the legislative session ends this year.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear reiterated Sunday on CBS News's "Face the Nation" that he has "heard absolutely nothing back" from Sen. Mitch McConnell, more than two months into the senator's absence. Beshear said he wishes McConnell good health but called the Republican-controlled Senate unaccountable, saying McConnell "absolutely refuses" to address the public directly even briefly, and faulted Senate Majority Leader John Thune for deferring to McConnell's office rather than ensuring senators have the capacity to serve.

McConnell, 84, has not cast a Senate vote since June 11 following a fall and hospitalization at his Capitol Hill home in mid-June. He later disclosed a brief loss of consciousness and pneumonia, moved to a rehab facility, and was discharged to recover at home on Aug. 6, with no timeline for returning to work. His office says he has no fractures, concussion, heart attack, or stroke and continues physical therapy while engaging on Senate business. Some Senate Republicans, including Sen. Roger Marshall, have expressed confidence McConnell will return before his term ends; he is not seeking reelection. The Senate returns from recess Sept. 14.