A resolution requesting the Mayor and Metropolitan Social Services to create an Office of Group Homes to serve as a repository for citizen concerns and direct citizens to the appropriate licensing agencies.

WHEREAS, various group home facilities that provide housing for physically and mentally disabled persons, including persons seeking treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, are located throughout Nashville's inner city residential areas; and

WHEREAS, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (FHAA) prohibits discrimination against disabled persons in both public and private housing; and

WHEREAS, the FHAA contains a broad definition of disability to include "a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities"; and

WHEREAS, federal courts have held that requiring group homes to obtain special use permits, or limiting the number of unrelated persons that can live in such a facility, violates both the FHAA and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and

WHEREAS, many citizens living in neighborhoods with group homes, boarding houses, rehab houses, and halfway houses have concerns about the operation of these facilities, but are unaware of the appropriate regulatory agency to which these concerns should be directed; and

WHEREAS, a Metropolitan Office of Group Homes could fill an important role in the community not as a regulatory agency, but merely as an agency that provides information about group homes and similar facilities to concerned citizens; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the Mayor and Metropolitan Social Services create an Office of Group Homes to serve the community, while ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Fair Housing Act and the United States Constitution.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:

Section 1. That the Metropolitan County Council hereby goes on record as requesting the Mayor and Metropolitan Social Services to create an Office of Group Homes to serve as a repository for citizen concerns and direct citizens to the appropriate licensing agencies.

Section 2. The Metropolitan Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Resolution by United States mail or electronic mail to Mayor Bill Purcell, to Gerri Robinson, the Director of Metropolitan Social Services, and to each member of the Metropolitan Social Services Board of Commissioners.

Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.

Sponsored by: Pam Murray, Mike Jameson