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

Considering these six factors and working to improve them can help you establish excellent rapport with residents and community members. Any religious leaders requiring alcohol for communion or other religious services are only permitted to bring four ounces or less of alcohol on-site. The facility must have adequate supplies, space, and furniture for all residents. The facility must comply with federal laws outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act .

However, you might be wondering what happens now that the detox is over, you’ve completed your stay at an addiction treatment center, and it is time to go home. Many people develop meaningful and fulfilling relationships with their roommates.

The Pros and Cons of Sober Living Houses

In the ’40s and ’50s, California began to dismantle its custodial care systems (e.g., local jails and state psychiatric hospitals), creating an even greater need for sober living houses. However, the existing 12-step recovery houses usually refused to accept inebriates.

In the United States, 60.1% of individuals ages 12 and older use at least one substance , according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This has prompted the proposal of bills that would regulate advertising and require registration for new homes. However, “because there is no formal monitoring of SLHs that are not affiliated with associations or coalitions, it is impossible to provide an exact number of SLHs.”

What Did We Learn from Our Study on Sober Living Houses and Where Do We Go from Here?

Individuals currently using or withdrawing from substances were usually not accepted. Therefore, they needed services for detoxification and establishment of initial sobriety in the community before they could apply for sober housing.

Instead of mandating 12-step meeting attendance, Oxford Houses’ only requirement was sobriety, though most residents were involved in 12-step programs. Their motivation was not based on the desire to help people recover from problems with substance abuse, but rather on the conviction that alcohol and drugs were social evils that society would be better off without. After World War II, addiction entered the limelight and Alcoholics Anonymous sober house and other self-help movements emerged. 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. 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.

Quality Standards of Sober Living Homes

Sober living homes allow residents to get a sense of what a real sober life is, beyond the walls of rehab. Living in a sober house or residential treatment can also help reduce loneliness, which is an inherent part of the addiction cycle. You may have cut ties with the good people in your life, or withdrew from family members in fear of judgement and rejection. You will not be alone – there will be people literally living beside you, with very parallel experiences. Over time, these people will start to feel more like your family, or your community, with everyone supporting and understanding one another. 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.

Although discredited at the time as demeaning and as ineffectual, these beds had served respite and care functions for large numbers of persons with alcohol or drug problems. SLHs have their origins in the state of California and most continue to be located there (Polcin & Henderson, 2008).

Origins of Sober Housing within the AA Movement and the Formation of 12-Step Houses

These rules may include no alcohol or drug use on-site, a set curfew each night, or regular drug tests to ensure a sober living environment. If someone continuously breaks the rules , they may not be allowed to stay any longer. Ten16 has a zero-tolerance policy for drug and alcohol use, and due to our unique staffing model, we are unable to accommodate residents on controlled substances . Our sober living house residents share a commitment to sobriety and agree to random testing. These homes, which often required or encouraged residents to attend 12-step programs, numbered in the dozens by the 1960s. By the 1970s, Oxford Houses became a successful model for a sober living house. These homes, rather than being run by one landlord, were communally run on a democratic basis.

• While they are both residences designed to support folks in maintaining sobriety and transitioning back into society, there are some key differences.
• Monarch Sober Living’s primary purpose is to provide a safe, supportive, and structured environment for people transitioning on their journey through sobriety.
• Ten16 has a zero-tolerance policy for drug and alcohol use, and due to our unique staffing model, we are unable to accommodate residents on controlled substances .
• The number of residents depends on the size of the home or licensed beds in a facility.
• Those who were not ready to put the work in were felt to have a detrimental effect on others.
• Our primary purpose is to foster long-term sobriety through the cultivation of accountability, camaraderie, & character development.