The Pros and Cons of Sober Living Houses

Living in a house where people are drinking or using drugs is a temptation no one fresh out of an inpatient facility should have to face. One study noted abstinence rates improved in one sober living home from 11% at the beginning to 68% at 6- and 12-months. At 18 months, abstinence was a bit lower at 46%, but still significantly better than the time period before they entered the home.

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.

Clean and Sober Transitional Living (CSTL)

Someone’s family and friends could become a barrier to recovery, or may even trigger relapse. Conversely, having a change of scenery and being safely away from temptation can facilitate faster healing. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) originated in the 1930s and provided the steppingstones for sober housing by requiring strict sobriety, participation in the community, peer support, and a 12-step program. However, AA did little to address housing needs for its participants as they worked through the program.

• A sober living house differs from a halfway house in that the individuals who reside in these facilities mostly come directly from inpatient substance use treatment programs.
• Typically, as long as you follow the rules, you may live in the home for as long as you want.
• Today, sober living homes can be run by a business, a religious group, or by private individuals.

Once an applicant is deemed eligible, there is no need to ever reapply. States that regulate these facilities require a maximum number of residents, often fewer than 10. These facilities are houses located in quiet neighborhoods, although they may sometimes be in apartment buildings.

Leading Structured Sober Living Community in Southern California for Over 30 Years

California sober living homes are residences that provide drug-free and alcohol-free housing for a community of people in recovery. The support model at these homes is informal, and residents do not typically get professional services from the sober living home directly. Unlike formal rehab programs that must get a license from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), California law on substance abuse is less restrictive on sober living homes. Nevertheless, many sober living homes in California choose to adopt national standards and join associations that monitor the safety, health, and compliance of the recovery model used by the sober living home. Residents of sober living homes tend to partake voluntarily and simultaneously continue with outpatient treatment. Sober living homes are run privately or as a part of a continuum of care from an addiction treatment provider.

• If you are an individual or a group who would like to start a sober living home in your community, Eudaimonia Recovery Homes is here to help.
• Some sober-living homes have a base rate with additional costs for added services.
• In the United States, 60.1% of individuals ages 12 and older use at least one substance (like tobacco, alcohol, or an illicit drug), according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
• Anyone who has been in the business long enough knows that there are far more addicts in need of sober housing than there are open beds.

With almost 4 decades of experience we’ve fine-tuned a process that caters to each individual’s long-term success, far beyond our doors. Before opening a sober living home, it’s important to thoroughly research the market to determine the best location and pricing for your home. Figure out what other facilities offer and try to find a point of differentiation – how your facility meets a unique and unmet need in the area. Recovery Housing reduces the chances of relapse because possible triggers don’t surround people the way they would if they’d returned home immediately following treatment.

What are halfway house rules?

As such, sober living houses serve as a space to transition into a life without addiction, developing tools and community while getting used to the demands of daily life. During the 1960s and 1970s, the idea that a person’s living environment played a significant role in their sobriety became popular. The result was the growth in what was then referred to as halfway houses. These living spaces provided 5 Tips to Consider When Choosing a Sober Living House a situation that removed the newly sober individual from their previously challenging living environment as they learned to live without drugs or alcohol. A number of studies indicated that halfway houses were helpful in terms of helping people with substance abuse. Transitional housing provides shelter for persons with mental health issues, homeless persons, or persons recovering from addiction.

Sober living houses (SLHs) are alcohol and drug free living environments that offer peer support for recovery outside the context of treatment. Sober living homes–also referred to as halfway houses–such as ours in Los Angeles are residential homes that provide a drug and alcohol-free environment for people in early recovery. Sober living homes provide the necessary support, encouragement, and safety helpful for recovery.

Choosing an environment that reflects a positive recovery is key to lasting sobriety. In the service I work in, our Oxford recovery house has evaluated well. Having said that, this whole area is very under-developed, with little in the way of recovery housing being commissioned (or even known about), though there is evidence that this is changing a bit for the better. Safety, shared goals and vision, unity and camaraderie were all found to appeal to the residents as advantages of sober living.

• This measure includes 9 items and was developed by Humphreys, Kaskutas and Weisner (1998) to measure the strength of an individual’s affiliation with AA.
• The length of time depends on an individual’s unique journey and how long their treatment and recovery take.
• They give people in need the room to create a new daily routine outside of a living situation that may otherwise trigger them to relapse to drugs or alcohol.
• Instead, they required applicants to begin their sobriety before approaching the sober house.
• If you’re getting out of an inpatient program, there should be plenty of discussion between you and your treatment team about what the next steps for you will look like.

As a next step in our research on SLHs we plan to assess how they are viewed by various stakeholder groups in the community, including house managers, neighbors, treatment professionals, and local government officials. Interviews will elicit their knowledge about addiction, recovery, and community based recovery houses such as SLHs. Their perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of SLHs in their communities should provide data that can be used to modify houses to improve acceptance and expand to serve more drug and alcohol dependent persons. We hypothesize that barriers to expansion of SLHs might vary by stakeholder groups.

So, how do sober living homes work, anyway? What even are they?

Before you can think about aftercare, you’ve got to take the challenging first step of entering treatment. You stand to gain several benefits when moving into a sober living home. Benefits range from building interpersonal skills to reducing the chances of relapse. Think about the environment that will inspire you most in recovery – one that will keep you going and set you up for success. Do you have a safe space to reflect and meditate, or a creative place to let go? Do you have access to a peaceful, outdoor environment when you need a breath of fresh air, or to local amenities, like a grocery store or quiet café?