State health officials in Utah are moving to shut down a faith-based addiction treatment center after reports that residents were forced to work for a pittance as telemarketers, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Feb. 4.

The state Department of Human Services notified the House of Refuge in Salt Lake City that its license to provide residential support services will be revoked on Feb. 16. House of Refuge clients -- mostly parolees and probationers -- were told that they had to work for a telemarketing firm owned by Steve Sandlin, one of the pastors of Central Christian Church, which operates the supervised living center. Residents were paid as little as 28 cents per hour for their work; those who refused were told they would be kicked out of the program and sent back to jail.

Sandlin and fellow pastor Robert Ferris said they will appeal the state's decision. "We deny all the charges and accusations that were made," says Ferris. "[The state] said we were in violation without even looking at our books. They came in on a witch hunt." 

State officials inspected the House of Refuge after a report by a local TV station about abuses at the facility; after about two hours, Ferris forced the state investigators to leave.

Ferris said the program is tough on residents but aims to help them succeed; he said those who worked as telemarketers were not paid but given a stipend, room, and board. Those who worked outside the program were forced to give their earnings to the program, although some of the money was given back if the residents stayed in the program for six months.

Ferris said that all of these terms were spelled out in contracts signed by residents, but state officials said residents were coerced with the threat of prison. "What's unfortunate is that men who are in need of treatment ended up being exploited ... and that it's gone on as long as it has undetected," said Ken Stettler, licensing director for the state health department. 

House of Refuge has been dropped from the Utah Department of Corrections reentry program, and the state Department of Commerce may investigate its telemarketing operation.