A halfway house is a community-based accommodation that aims to provide a safe and structured environment for those in recovery from alcohol or substance use. Residents of halfway houses are most often transitioning from an inpatient rehab center or incarceration with the completion of a substance treatment program. The term halfway house can refer to a number of transitional living environments that help people re-enter society. For peoplein recovery, it usually refers to sober living homes that provide varying degrees of support and supervision.
- You’ve gone through medical detox and completed an inpatient or outpatient treatment program.
- Not all halfway houses have the same policy on smoking, vaping, or other tobacco products.
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However, they still offer more structure and a larger support system than independent living. Halfway houses have strict rules, such as requirements that residents abide by curfew hours, participate in counseling sessions, and stay sober. These guidelines foster an environment of responsibility and accountability. To this end, halfway houses usually use drug tests to ensure residents aren’t misusing drugs or alcohol. For the most part, people go to halfway houses because it is a mandatory condition of their release from prison. Some people may also go to halfway houses without it being required, simply because the facility provides housing.
Life in a Halfway House Can Be an Integral Part of the Recovery Process
Unfortunately, much less information exists about how many state-run or state-contracted halfway houses and halfway house residents there are. However, as we will discuss later, these numbers include facilities that serve primarily or entirely as residential correctional facilities (where people serve their entire sentences). This ambiguity means that pinning down how many people are in halfway houses each day – and how many specifically state-funded halfway houses there are – is nearly impossible. A sober home or sober living home is a type of location you can live for a period of time after completing rehab.
What Are Halfway Houses Used For?
Many halfway houses have staff available around the clock to provide support and monitoring for the residents. Staff may include professionals trained in addiction counseling or security personnel that ensures residents are complying with the rules and regulations of the home. To learn more about our sober living houses and partnering treatment center and how to kickstart the journey to recovery, please contact our admissions team today. Improper management and inadequate oversight of halfway houses also enables inequities in the reentry process.
People often use the terms halfway house and sober living home interchangeably, but they are separate types of facilities. In the event a resident violates the halfway house rules, they must move out, sometimes immediately, or return to detox if they lapse or relapse. The consequences what is a halfway house like of rule violations are usually included in the terms of the residency contract which all residents sign when moving in. These woeful inadequacies are indicative of a larger systemic failure of halfway house oversight that often results in deeply problematic conditions for residents.
- Private halfway houses may be focused on individuals exiting particular addiction treatment programs.
- One reason that we know more about federal than state-level halfway houses has to do with the contracting process.
- 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 time spent in a sober-living home depends on a number of factors including strength of recovery from addiction, progress on clinical milestones and the personal living situation at home.
- Halfway houses offer a dorm-like setting, while sober homes are in quiet residential areas and focus more on independent living.
How Effective Are Halfway Houses?
- Furthermore, structured halfway houses have been shown to teach residents accountability for their actions and choices, ultimately and effectively leading to a maintained sober life.
- This is a great asset to those struggling with their own personal battles.
- The number of residents depends on the size of the home or licensed beds in a facility.
- Our main purpose is to provide services and education to the client and family that will support long lasting recovery of mind, body, and spirit.
- In general, most people find themselves staying at a halfway house anywhere from three to twelve months.
- Although halfway houses are often funded by state governments, there may be a small weekly or monthly fee.
- Another difference from a halfway house is that a sober living home is usually not co-ed and can be further segmented by specific age groups.