Residents in a sober living house must live by the house’s rules, including maintaining abstinence, paying rent and other fees, participating in house chores, and attending house meetings. Most sober house residents, however, stay for 6 to 9 months before moving on to full independence. Of course, there are a slew of additional factors that influence the overall quality, effectiveness, and fit of a sober living program. While sober living houses share much in common, there are also varying levels of structure for the residents in the home.

• Part of living in recovery is “showing up for life,” meaning doing things for yourself that make you a successful, contributing member of society.
• The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers is a nonprofit professional society designed to offer support to organizations across the continuum of care.
• Accountability is important not only for SLH residents but for operating staff as well.
• These support positive social connections beyond SLHs to maintain lifelong sobriety.

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.

Ethos Recovery

In many cases, years of substance abuse can damage people’s lives to such an extent that their resources become very limited. All sober living residents must share in the responsibility of rent and other costs of living for the house. Have completed or are currently completing an addiction treatment program. Detailed descriptions of analytic methods and statistical results have been reported in Polcin, Korcha, Bond, & Galloway , Polcin Korcha, Bond, & Galloway , and Polcin Korcha, Bond, Galloway & Lapp . Our purpose here is to summarize the most salient and relevant findings for SLHs as a community based recovery option.

Sober living homes, also referred to as three-fourths houses, are designed to accommodate those dealing with this challenge. They provide a supportive, safe space where people can live free of addiction with others who share the same goal. If residents are found to violate any of these rules, they may be asked to leave the sober living facility. Sober living homes provide a structure and support system that can be vital for people in early recovery, so it is important to follow the rules and make the most of this opportunity.

Does Insurance Cover Sober Living?

They also help residents find a 12-step sponsor and make sure they’re engaging in their recovery instead of going through the motions. They serve as a valuable resource to our residents for questions and concerns about building a sober life. Sober Living houses have rules designed to keep residents what is a sober living house on-track to sobriety. SLH rules prevent engaging or substituting addictions, and help build healthy life habits. Residents must continue to follow the rules through their entire stay. Dr. Thomas received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

The best course of action for anyone who wants to get clean and sober is to seek help and make use of the resources of addiction experts. Sober living facilities give residents an opportunity to live in a safe, supportive, and alcohol and drug-free environment. Sober living homes typically have rules and structures designed to support residents as they work to regain sobriety and rebuild their lives. These may include curfews, daily check-ins, chores, and regular group meetings. Sober living homes also provide residents with resources and support to help them find jobs, reconnect with family, and get back on their feet. A sober living home is a place where people in recovery from addiction can live together and support each other as they rebuild their lives.

Types of Sober Living Houses

Many sober living homes operate like a co-op, where a group of residents pays rent and upkeeps the home as if it were their own. In order to stay living in a sober home, everyone has to follow a set of rules, which may include meeting curfew or periodic drug testing. Some are on the campus where drug and alcohol addiction treatment is provided, and others are independent homes, apartments or condos. The number of residents depends on the size of the home or licensed beds in a facility. In most sober-living environments, bedrooms are shared, but some do provide individual rooms. Typically, there are rules about shared living spaces and individual room maintenance and chores, visitor hours, meal times, curfews and Twelve Step meeting requirements.

Have you or a loved one completed a substance abuse treatment program or detox? Interviews will elicit their knowledge about addiction, recovery, and community based recovery houses such as SLHs. We hypothesize that barriers to expansion of SLHs might vary by stakeholder groups. Drug and alcohol administrators and operators of houses might therefore need different strategies to address the concerns of different stakeholders.

Who runs sober houses?

Most of the clients are low income and many have history of being homeless at some point in their lives. Because a large number do not have a stable living environment that supports abstinence from alcohol and drugs, ORS developed SLHs where clients can live while they attend the outpatient program. The houses are different from freestanding SLHs, such as those at CSTL, because all residents must be involved in the outpatient program.