The July 25 drug possession arrest of Samuel Tabor, 25, a resident at The Center’s Sunburst Housing Project, warrants scrutiny of the project’s stance on drug testing. Tabor was taken into custody for having a “large quantity” of ecstasy tablets. In addition to Tabor’s arrest, a Sunburst resident was stabbed outside the apartment building in May.

The Youth Housing Project, which opened in 2006 and provides affordable housing for homeless youth ages 18 to 24, including GLBT and HIV-positive youth, does not drug test its residents, according to Delores Jacobs, the chief executive officer of The Center. Many of the young adult residents have transitioned out of foster care, are estranged from their families, or were homeless, and most are considered at risk for violence, HIV exposure or drug use. The two incidents in the last three months illustrate a serious need to help these young adults.

The Youth Housing Project is an innovative and admirable service that supports at-risk young adults, but its lack of a drug-testing policy and its zero-tolerance stand are ineffective. As one of the first projects of its kind in the nation, The Youth Housing Project (and The Center, for that matter), don’t have a model to follow. The Center is blazing a trail in social services with this project.

The Center’s Youth Housing Project will be a model for others in the nation. As such, it needs to take an aggressively proactive approach to drug use among its residents. Further, as long as little is done to eliminate drug use among the Sunburst residents, the success of these young adults is at risk.

The fact of the matter is, youth ages 18 to 24 are not children. They are afforded most of the rights adults enjoy. They are faced with choices.

Of course, addiction is a disease that compromises one’s ability to choose and, mindful of this, The Youth Housing Project offers drug counseling and treatment services to its residents. It has a responsibility to do so if it is going to house at-risk youth.

Where it fails its responsibility and where it fails its residents (not to mention taxpayers and donors who support the project), however, is in its policy not to drug test potential tenants.

Residents should be tested prior to moving in. If a resident tests positive for drug use, he or she should be required to utilize the available drug treatment services that are in place to help them succeed. Residents who test positive should then be required to submit to weekly drug tests, with a 30-day window that allows subsequent positive tests. After 30 days, residency should be contingent on testing negative each week.

Tabor was 25. It’s unknown whether he utilized the drug treatment services at Sunburst, but the project’s zero-tolerance drug policy makes this clear: the services will not be accessible to Tabor now, when he may need them the most. Instead, he’s facing an eviction notice and criminal charges.

Lack of testing and a zero-tolerance policy on drug use do not serve anyone. It’s a hands-off approach to providing a social service, which is counterproductive to mentoring these young adults, and helping them transition to independent living.

Jacobs, last week, said, “Unfortunately, even the consequence [of being evicted] doesn’t help them to make the correct choice.” But the key is presenting the residents with a choice and a consequence.

They can choose to submit to regular drug tests, receive drug treatment services, and have affordable rent made available to them in a loving, supportive, communal environment.

Or they can choose the alternative.

We understand that The Center wants to provide a sense of unconditional love for their charges, but drug testing would not hamper this. Yes, it would make their living arrangements conditional – not on sexual orientation or HIV status, but on their commitment to living in a drug-free environment. It’s tough love, conditional love – but love, nonetheless.

We’re not naïve. We know that a drug test won’t curb drug use – but it will require residents to prove they are invested in becoming healthy, productive adults.

Once residents receive the drug treatment services they need, the project can take a long, hard look at addressing other issues: violence, prostitution, mental health, and career counseling.

The Center couldn’t have targeted a more challenging community to serve – a group of more than 20 street-savvy 18 to 24 year olds certainly isn’t easy to manage, particularly for The Center’s one resident manager at Sunburst. And The Center’s heart is in the right place – it is funneling dollars into a worthwhile venture that will pay dividends when the residents become leaders in this community. What won’t pay off, however, is the project’s antiquated approach to drug testing, which does not address a growing problem in young adults.

The reality is the community cannot afford to support a frat house.