Alejandro A. Alvarez / Philadelphia Inquirer In December 2017, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation to increase oversight for drug and alcohol recovery houses — a measure that lawmakers said was needed to fight the opioid epidemic and protect vulnerable people from being exploited. The action by lawmakers came after years of complaints from local government leaders and some recovery advocates, who said profit-driven owners packed people into homes, provided few rules and little support, and put residents at greater risk of relapsing. But more than three years later, recovery homes — believed to number in the thousands — continue to operate without state oversight, Spotlight PA has found. The state’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs missed a June 2020 deadline to, for the first time, create a certification or licensing process for them.