Before considering how to start a sober living home, it’s crucial to understand its primary purpose first. Sober living homes offer a safe and supportive environment for those recovering from alcohol or drug addictions. At a sober living home, residents benefit from a substance-free living environment where they can focus on healing and getting sober. Each sober living home involves general house rules and guidelines for residents to follow. In addition, drug testing requirements are also put into place to ensure everyone in the home remains sober. All successful sober living homes have rules and regulations that you must follow to live there, and while these rules may vary, the general guidelines are usually the same no matter where you go.

When you open your sober living home and begin housing people in recovery, it’s best to have each resident review and sign the policy handbook upon admission and give them a copy to keep. It’s also important to note that sober living homes and halfway houses are not the same. Although these terms are often used interchangeably, halfway houses are typically government-funded and have limitations on how long a resident can live there. Comparatively, sober living residents can stay as long as needed, provided that they adhere to the household rules and expectations, pay rent, and cover their personal expenses. With the support of recovery professionals in the most beautiful setting, let us at Pacific Beach Recovery sober living San Diego show you how peaceful, enjoyable, and supportive sobriety is meant to be.

How To Start A Sober Living Home: Everything You Need To Know

California, however, is leading the way in regulating these facilities, so they do not discriminate, are not discriminated against, and maintain good health and safety standards for residents. Renting in a large city like Los Angeles will be more expensive than in smaller cities, but this is normal. When searching for a sober living home, look for places with rent costs that seem reasonable. It may be beneficial to ask a friend or family member to tour the facility and make sure it is worth the rent. In general, sober living homes are privately owned homes for people recovering from drug or alcohol addiction. Houses are usually located in quiet, peaceful neighborhoods, where members can destress and focus on their growth and recovery journeys.

• This was a home, typically placed in low-income housing, that enforced policies around sobriety and required attendance to AA meetings.
• As such, sober living houses serve as a space to transition into a life without addiction, developing tools and community while getting used to the demands of daily life.
• A sober living home in West Los Angeles – a very affluent neighborhood – was found to have rent listed at $10,000 per month.

Join the thousands of people that have called a treatment provider for rehab information. Sober living is primarily useful in cases where someone has already undergone treatment in rehab or some other type of program. So how do you help recovering addicts when so many people are just trying to make a buck off them? That’s what his nonprofit organization’s all about — getting sober home owners to agree to follow certain rules. We host nightly “family” dinners, weekly meetings, and regular outings to create an environment that promotes cohesive unity. The brotherhood between house members empowers everyone to walk through tribulations with much-needed support, and to meet our high standards.

Insurance Providers

It’s a good idea to offer a promotion from resident to house manager after a resident has met a specific period of time sober. Often their lodging is free, and so are their meals, but this does not negate the need to pay them. Starting a new sober home investment can be very exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. As experts dedicated to the success of recovery centers, we provide industry-specific digital marketing strategies to help you effectively market your new sober living home. Our knowledgeable and helpful team takes a client-focused approach to help you track and achieve your business goals, one step at a time. There’s significant money to be made by opening an addiction treatment center.

• As you consider your plan to create a sober living home, room size and setup are all factors worth considering.
• As you’re searching for the environment that’s right for you, ask each potential recovery home what their rules are.
• Each state has its own governing agency for the purpose of licensure and the rules may vary.
• More than 20 men live in the home, and they share just one bathroom with no door.
• Being farther away from the environment that initially drove an addiction can help individuals avoid relapse.

It’s important for aftercare to be considered before you even enter treatment. Here, we endeavor to answer all parts of the question, “How do sober living homes work? ” We’ll cover the basic definition of these facilities, and then we’ll dive deeper into how they benefit their residents and whether they might be a good fit for you. Many of us are pretty familiar with inpatient rehab at this point, and outpatient programs aren’t too hard to wrap your head around. But understanding how sober living homes work is a little bit tougher of a task for some of us. The complexity of treatment programs, knowing which level of care you need and how to choose the program best suited to you can sadly become a hesitation for those who desperately need care.

Here’s How to Make Sure California Doesn’t Mistake Your Sober Living Home for an Addiction Treatment Center

As you research local licensing, regulations, and zoning, be aware of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This law helps protect the rights of those in need of sober living homes. Some states require a license to open and operate this type of facility.

The outcomes of living in such an environment can include positive health, behavioral, and relationship changes. Leaving the structure of the treatment program can be very disruptive to your sobriety, so treatment programs have strict schedules filled with counseling, group sober house therapy, and participatory activities. At Footprints to Recovery, over 70% of our patients choose to stay in sober living while receiving treatment or after completing treatment with us. Most of them view their homes as a necessary component of a successful recovery.

The History of Sober Living Houses

Write a resident policy handbook, which details residents’ rights and responsibilities. Require signatures attesting that residents agree to the policy terms. Seek local recovery resources, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. The types of issues we usually have are things like an uptick in turnover or someone breaking the house rules.

• The owner of the property refused to do an interview, but one of the residents reluctantly showed me around.
• The residential property will need to be large enough to accommodate the number of residents you wish to serve.
• Many states require documentation and notarized statements from the relevant agencies proving that these conditions are being met before they will OK licensing.
• With this in mind, you’ll want to research the zoning laws of prospective properties.