What Are Sober Living House Rules?

Lastly, halfway houses are often owned or sponsored by the state, while most sober-living houses are owned privately or by treatment facilities that want to provide continuing support for their patients. Many people in recovery find it helpful to their sobriety to move into an environment with a readily available support system. If you need help finding a sober living home or other treatment options, contact a treatment provider today.

Many individuals attempting to abstain from alcohol and drugs do not have access to appropriate housing that supports sustained recovery. Our study found positive longitudinal outcomes for 300 individuals living in two different types of SLHs, which suggests they might be an effective option for those in need of alcohol- sober house and drug-free housing. Improvements were noted in alcohol and drug use, arrests, psychiatric symptoms and employment. Although criminal justice referred residents had alcohol and drug use outcomes that were similar to other residents, they had a harder time finding and keeping work and had higher rearrest rates.

other recovery resources

For residents of Los Angeles, Design for Recovery offers a structured facility for young men struggling with addiction. Their 12-step based program is based on principles of honesty, integrity, accountability, responsibility, and service. The Sober Living Network, an organization that sets standards for sober living homes, maintains a list of approved facilities. Facilities that are members of their Sober Living Coalition are guaranteed to be safe, well-managed, and ethical. If you are interested in researching sober living homes near you, you can consult their directory via their free search tool. Unfortunately, relapse can occur anywhere, and relapses do occur in some sober living homes.

However, recovering addicts in outpatient programs do not live at those treatment facilities and may return home at the end of each day’s scheduled sessions. Use our software tools to manage your sober living home, recovery residence, halfway house, or transitional housing program. While sober living houses share much in common, there are also varying levels of structure for the residents in the home. For those who decide to spend some time in a substance abuse halfway house, there will be plenty of benefits. Clients and their families want rules and structure that will maintain an orderly sober living home and maintain accountability among all residents.

Safe & Loving

These are the relationships you will have for life, the people you can call on when things get tough, the people that will hold you accountable for your sobriety time and time again. This support system allows residents to avoid the isolation that can sometimes come with returning home while in recovery. It further provides an environment to support recovery from substance abuse and addiction for those who are emerging from rehab. Sober living homes provide a combination of freedom and structure to help the person begin to adjust to life outside of rehab. They are set up specially to serve as transitional housing for people coming out of treatment.

In a sober living home, you will be surrounded by people who support your recovery, and who will hold you accountable on a daily basis. Typically, sober living homes have on-site managers that live in the house with you and the other tenants. These managers are available 24/7 to help you with any potential issues that arise in your recovery – difficult cravings, down emotions, trouble finding a job – and are simply there to talk.

What It Is Like Living in a Sober House: A Complete Guide

Elizabeth is a published author and keynote speaker advocating for client experience, person-centered approaches, and mental healthcare reform. The phrase “drug rehab” is a catch-all term for the variety of services available for treating substance use disorders, including alcohol and drug addiction. However, within the scope of rehab, there is a whole range of programs that offer varying levels of care. Halfway houses have rules to enforce the sober environment of the home.

• We’ve been there, we understand, and we’re here 24/7 to support you in your time of need.
• You’re free to work or go to school while also being held accountable for your recovery.
• Although self selection can be viewed as a weakness of the research designs, it can also be conceived as a strength, especially for studying residential recovery programs.
• A sober living home allows a person to apply skills learned in treatment to real life in a less triggering environment.

Despite the advantages of halfway houses, there are limitations as well (Polcin & Henderson, 2008). After some period of time, usually several months, residents are required to move out whether or not they feel ready for independent living. A second issue is financing the houses, which often includes government funding. Finally, halfway houses require residents to have completed or be involved in some type of formal treatment. For a variety of reasons some individuals may want to avoid formal treatment programs. Some may have had negative experiences in treatment and therefore seek out alternative paths to recovery.

To help limit social isolation and reduce costs residents share bedrooms. Like other SLH models of recovery, residence are free to stay as long as they wish provide they comply with house rules (e.g., curfews, attendance at 12-step meetings) and fulfill their financial obligations. Also like other SLH models, each house has a house manager who is responsible for ensuring house rules and requirements are followed. ORS does not have any type of Residents Council, but house managers meet regularly with the executive director and have input into operation of the SLHs in during these contacts. Sober living homes are places where people in recovery can live for a while, typically after an inpatient treatment program.

Despite the enormous need for housing among the offender population, SLHs have been largely overlooked as a housing option for them (Polcin, 2006c). This is particularly concerning because our analysis of criminal justice offenders in SLHs showed alcohol and drug outcomes that were similar to residents who entered the houses voluntarily. The two types of recovery houses assessed in this study showed different strengths and weaknesses and served different types of individuals. Communities and addiction treatment systems should therefore carefully assess the types of recovery housing that might be most helpful to their communities. There are several limitations to the study that are important to consider.

Womens Home

Since sober living homes are funded by residents, they tend to be more democratically run and less vulnerable to the whims of a landlord or state budget. Many people also opt for sober living homes over halfway houses because they are uncomfortable with formal treatment facilities. It’s important to know that sober living houses are not treatment centers. The staff doesn’t provide any clinical or medical services, but many residents attend outpatient treatment or participate in recovery-based groups while they live there.