Certified Sober Living Homes

NARR was only recently formed and has developed new standards for recovery homes of all types. They are active in promoting expansion of community based recovery and additional research to document outcomes. The Society of Community Research and Action , Division 27 of the American Psychological Association has teamed up with NARR to develop a policy statement on the value of recovery residences in the United States (Jason, Mericle, Polcin & White, 2013). By the late 1940s state hospital systems across the US including California had crumbled under years of neglect and abuse brought on by a public which refused to approve necessary staffing and maintenance levels. Concerns were being raised about the cumulative effects of therapeutic shortcomings when the facilities were not maintained and did not operate according to high standards (Gruenberg, Brandon, & Kasius, 1966).

Someone who benefits from staying at a sober living home includes people who suffer from medical or mental health issues in addition to addiction. Individuals who have been through rehab previously on one or more occasions, and those individuals who do not have a strong support system in place at home. Eudaimonia offerscomfortable gender-specific sober homes and apartmentsfor people in recovery.

“War on drugs” as public policy

After getting sober and starting to regain their health, usually over a period from one to several months, patients/inmates were discharged back to the neighborhoods they had come from. At best there may have been a short-term arrangement for a sober bed, but there was no inter-service discharge planning or continued monitoring. The chronic drinkers who cycled through this system repeatedly were characterized as “doing the sober house loop” . This new system minimized use of inpatient hospitalization, confining 24-hour care to short-term treatment in specialized residential community facilities. However, state planners responsible for implementing Short-Doyle legislation ended up relying primarily on family members for living arrangements. Thus, the new community-based outpatient approach did not work well for many persons with alcohol or drug problems.

Halfway houses do not usually require residents to have a job upon arrival and usually do not require residents to pay rent, but this varies. However, halfway houses are particularly beneficial to someone who attended rehab as a mandate of the criminal justice system. Each home has its own rules, like no drugs or alcohol, residents pay their appropriate expenses to live in the home, and residents must participate in household activities like weekly meetings or regular chores. Residents of sober living homes must have completed detox and rehabilitation and should have a plan to go to therapy or 12-step meetings.

Typical Day at a Sober Living Home

There are no counselors or licensed mental health professionals in most sober living homes. In most cases, these are homes that are run by people who are also in recovery. While residing with us, young men live within a safe and supportive atmosphere where they can begin to utilize the 12-Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous in their daily lives. Unlike traditional sober living houses, New Life House is tailored to work specifically with young men. We believe this gender-specific and peer-based support network allows men to create meaningful relationships with others they can relate to and identify with. However, sober living homes usually offer much more support, structure, privacy, and programming than traditional halfway houses. Study findings showed comparable outcomes for residential service stays, but at lower cost for social-model stays (about 60% of costs at non-social model facilities).

• Our San Diego sober living homes are a walk from the gym, 12 step meetings , public transportation, public parks that include skating, basketball, and tennis), opportunities for jobs, and healthy sober entertainment.
• They may otherwise be exposed to drug or alcohol use and do not have stable housing or a support network.
• Some sober homes do not require residents to pay utility bills, but utilities may be rationed to avoid waste.
• To the authors’ knowledge, HUD has yet to approve a dedicated sober housing project based on enforceable agreements requiring strict sobriety among the residents.
• In other homes, counselors or case managers visit on a regular basis to provide in-home services.
• Recovery and sober living homes can empower individuals to get the help they need, and the aftercare required to complete rehabilitation.

Returning to an environment immediately after rehab can be overwhelming, and sober housing bridges this gap effectively. Sober living homes also help residents make new sober friends and build a support network of other like-minded people.

We stand proudly as San Diego’s go-to sober living of choice.

We assist with transition to a life of sobriety and independence in a comfortable, caring and supportive environment. Regularly attending and participating in a 12-step program has been shown to greatly increase the likelihood of staying sober. Following sober living rules can clearly help you develop sober habits, but they are not just guidelines for sober living. You could be expelled right away, or you could be expelled when you break the rules more than once. It pays to know what the sober living rules are, and it pays to follow them. Travel may be limited—A sober lifestyle begins with a solid routine, and nothing disrupts a routine more than travel. As a result, it is not at all uncommon for sober homes to place restrictions on your ability to visit other communities, whether they are close by or far away.

• Houses are usually located in quiet, peaceful neighborhoods, where members can destress and focus on their growth and recovery journeys.
• To be surrounded by caring people on the same path, to share meals, and to have someone to talk to and go to meetings with can be the make-it-or-break-it factor in whether or not you stay sober.
• Another series of studies found that individuals who remained abstinent for less than one year relapsed two-thirds of the time.
• The origins of Oxford Houses began in 1975, long after 12-step recovery homes were already established in California.

Formal research on neighbor reactions to sober living houses in operation has found neighbors either don’t know about them or admire them (Polcin, Henderson, Trocki, Evans, & Wittman, 2012). County alcohol program officials who supported the California social model wanted to extend the scope of social-model thinking to public health and safety agencies and community organizations. That is, they wanted the community’s own public agencies and organizations to work jointly to manage their own alcohol/drug environment in a safe, trouble-free manner . Sober living houses are “alcohol- and drug-free living environments for individuals attempting to maintain abstinence from alcohol and drugs”. They are typically structured around 12-step programs or other recovery methodologies. Residents are often required to take drug tests and demonstrate efforts toward long-term recovery. Sober living homes are intended to help those recovering from alcohol and substance abuse.

Recovery Centers of America is Here for You

Sober living homes and halfway houses could be an option if you need stable and safe housing after active treatment. Practically anyone in the recovery community will tell you that the hardest part of sobriety is not getting sober, it’s staying sober—that’s the true challenge addicts and alcoholics face. Living at our San Diego sober living home, you will experience an energetic and dedicated community to a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle and culture.

The program is designed to promote personal growth and life skills, provide accountability, and support ongoing sobriety with outpatient services. In some ways, it’s easy to understand why people confuse the difference between sober living and halfway houses. They both work as a type of housing to ease the transition for people who no longer need inpatient treatment, but who aren’t yet ready to return home to fully independent living. Both sober living homes and halfway houses can provide the support and community that people working on sobriety need. Is a recently funded 5-year study supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.