Sheppard Pratt Submits Ruxton Group Home Application

has filed its state application for a controversial Ruxton group home.

The Towson psychiatric hospital's application with the state Office of Health Care Quality, submitted last week under the name of its subsidiary, Mosaic Community Services, could be approved in two weeks, according to the office.

Sheppard Pratt purchased the home at 1506 Labelle Avenue earlier this year for $1.39 million. The house will serve up to eight residents who have completed their treatment in Sheppard Pratt's on-campus Retreat facility.

The Labelle Avenue home will mostly house low-risk patients suffering from depression and anxiety. The group home would cost patients $600 per day. The home would be staffed around the clock, and residents who violate the home's rules can be removed.

Neighbors have raised issues with the facility and Hospital officials have said the home was selected for its proximity to the hospital's Towson campus. Community members continue to protest the project on a website, Facebook page and signs throughout the neighborhood.

The application review is purely to make sure Sheppard Pratt is in line with laws and guidelines. According to a June opinion from the state attorney general's office (which I've attached to this article), federal courts have ruled the federal Fair Housing Act bars local governments from mandating public hearings or input for a group home application.

"Certainly, questions (about) the application are legitimate questions. Otherwise I'm not sure input from the community is solicited by the federal court ruling," said Bill Dorrill, deputy director of community programs for the Office of Health Care Quality. "The court decision is fairly explicit in that regard."