Sober Living vs Halfway House: What’s the Difference?

While completing a substance abuse rehab program before moving in may not be required, it can help individuals to stay sober. However, if residents are willing to remain sober, follow all house rules, and guarantee medical stability, they should feel free to apply. Finances can be crucial in determining the best plan for your recovery. However, sober living houses are not covered under insurance since they do not provide treatment services and thus aren’t considered rehabilitative facilities.

• House meetings are sessions where residents talk about their days, their current challenges, as well as achievements.
• Mutual accountability was “an important driver of behavior” with a sense of responsibility for others being highlighted as key.
• Here, we endeavor to answer all parts of the question, “How do sober living homes work?

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- 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. Areas for further research include testing innovative interventions to improve criminal justice outcomes, such as Motivational Interviewing Case Management (MICM) and examining the community context of SLHs. Recognizing stakeholder views that hinder and support SLHs will be essential if they are to expand to better meet the housing needs of persons suffering from alcohol and drug disorders.

What is a Sober Living Home?

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.

Sober living homes offer an in-between recovery option that allows you to reinforce the lessons learned in rehab. Consider asking folks at a recovery meeting or touching base with any sober friends you may have. If you recently completed a treatment program, contact the staff there for referrals to local sober living homes. Research on sober living houses also states that residents experience a higher possibility of securing employment and a lower likelihood of getting arrested. A sober living house is a residence owned by a private organization or individual for profit.

What is a Sober Living Facility?

This is where the rubber starts to meet the road in addiction recovery. To have the best chance for effectively recovering from addiction or substance abuse and remaining sober long-term, individuals should look for drug-free, stable housing that will support their recovery. Those living in a sober living house are serious about their recovery. The goal is to transition to an independent lifestyle – free of substance abuse and addiction.

• Thus, they are optimal for residents who are capable of handling a fair amount of autonomy and who can take personal responsibility for their recovery.
• As a chronic disease, addiction can be difficult to treat, but it’s certainly not hopeless.
• This flexible arrangement provides a sense of stability and permanency for individuals who are working to get their lives back on track in their community.

You can be sure that everyone living in our sober living facilities are walking the same path to recovery. 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.

Recovery Philosophy in Sober Living Houses

Homes 4 Hope offers desirable community housing for men and women ages 18 and older whose primary problem is alcoholism and drug dependency. Our supportive transitional housing offers individuals the greatest opportunities to discover a new way of life through sobriety through our Recovery Support System. Each home is designed functionally and comfortably to assist individuals in the transition to a sober and productive life. Despite the enormous need for housing among the offender population, SLHs have been largely overlooked as a housing option for them (Polcin, 2006c).

Having a solid support system and a safe living environment allows residents to grow, and to get the accountability they need to sustain sobriety. Residents aren’t bound to the sober living home’s campus and can come and go as they please. This allows individuals in recovery to feel like they are easing back into normal life and can start going back to their daily tasks and responsibilities. Although sober living homes are less restrictive than inpatient facilities, they still have rules that residents must abide by, including curfews and group meeting attendance. Maintaining sobriety can be a difficult process, however, a sober living house may provide you with the kind of structure and support you’ll need to maintain your sobriety. If you’re having a hard time adjusting to a sober life, reach out to a mental health professional who specializes in addiction and substance use.

Let our team help you find the recovery program that is right for you. It can be hard to make connections and succeed at things like a job or continue your education. Sober living homes are equipped sober house with several resources to help you find your way after treatment. Two additional measures were included as covariates because they assess factors emphasized by as important to recovery in SLHs.

We used the Global Severity Index (GSI) as an overall measure of psychiatric severity. Lack of administrative attention suggests that the facility may not be well-run or legitimate, which could put your sobriety at risk. Establish a functional way to file away all documentation of your business expenses, income records, mileage, and receipts to make filing taxes less stressful. Many people use an online bookkeeping program and/or a desktop filing system with labeled folders. You may feel confident doing this on your own or you may want to consider hiring an accountant to handle your filing system to avoid any legal issues in the future.

Recognition of the importance of one’s living environment led to a proliferation of inpatient and residential treatment programs during the 1960′ and 70’s (White, 1998). The idea was to remove clients from destructive living environments that encouraged substance use and create new social support systems in treatment. Some programs created halfway houses where clients could reside after they completed residential treatment or while they attended outpatient treatment. Most of the rent for the Options SLHs was paid by General Assistance or Social Security Income, so a variety of low income residents could be accommodated.