Difference Between Sober House and Halfway House

If you have co-existing mental health issues, be honest about that with counselors so that they can work on that part of your recovery, too. If you have physical challenges, make sure that https://ecosoberhouse.com/ the people in charge are aware of it so that they can help make your life easier. You’ll find that the caring, compassionate staff of a halfway house want to help in any way they can.

Other halfway house residents may include former prison inmates or homeless individuals working on addiction recovery. Halfway houses [1], also referred to as sober living homes or recovery houses, are transitional living environments for those who are in recovery programs or other institutions. These residential facilities help individuals in recovery remain sober by providing a safe, structured, supportive, and stable environment where individuals learn and practice skills they need to re-enter society. The state-placement of ex-criminal offenders to a “halfway house” after a prison sentence may either be decided upon as part of the judge’s sentence or by a prison official’s recommendation. A direct sentence to a halfway house can be decided upon by a judge or prosecutor in lieu of prison time.

How Long Do You Stay in a Halfway House?

After completing a rehabilitation program, maintaining sobriety in the outside world can be a challenge. Sober living homes, also referred to as three-fourths houses, are designed to accommodate those dealing with this challenge. They provide a supportive, safe space where people can live free of addiction with others who share the same goal. One way to receive such help is by staying in a sober living home or halfway house post-treatment. To know whether or not staying in a sober living home or halfway house post-treatment is right for you, you must first understand the difference between sober house and halfway house is. Lastly, halfway houses are often owned or sponsored by the state, while most sober-living houses are owned privately or by treatment facilities that want to provide continuing support for their patients.

At the start of the 21st century, correctional populations reached record levels and were continuing to increase, and institutional overcrowding became epidemic in some jurisdictions. These abstinence rates remained mostly stable by the 12- and 18-month marks as well. In other words, people who are abstinent after leaving an SLH tend to stay abstinent.

Halfway Houses

As well as serving as a residence, halfway houses provide social, medical, psychiatric, educational, and other similar services. They are termed “halfway houses” due to their being halfway between completely independent living and in-patient or carceral facilities, where residents are highly restricted in their behavior and freedoms. Rebuilding your life after addiction is frustrating and challenging, but halfway houses make it so much easier. Anyone who has a limited network of support or who finds that they don’t have the financial resources to rebuild their lives from scratch will benefit from entering a halfway house instead of the regular community. You get to choose the period or the days to leave, but usually, the length of stay is between 3 to 12 months, which offers ample time to regain your security in terms of employment and sobriety. There are random drug tests in sober living Homes to ensure the residence is free of drugs.

• Some sober living homes even offer their residents transportation services to commute them to and from their job interviews.
• This is because such activities help former inmates repair the relationships that they had before they were arrested.
• Sober living homes have staff members responsible for enforcing these rules to ensure the environment is free of drugs and the individuals are not tempted to relapse.
• Sober living homes generally don’t have time limits, so residents can stay until they feel confident enough to move on.
• The residents of a sober living home typically have completed an inpatient treatment program and are working on continuing their sobriety in a less structured environment.
• The very first days or weeks are especially hard for patients who have just completed an inpatient detox program.

When in active addiction, we tend to ignore the things that make us successful. So when getting back on our feet and in recovery, cooking and cleaning for ourselves is part of a healthy recovery plan. A halfway house is a residential facility designed to help people transition into independent living. They were initially developed as drug-free living environments for people who had completed residential treatment. These houses were meant to be “halfway” points between the restrictive structure of rehab and the complete independence of home. You’ve gone through medical detox and completed an inpatient or outpatient treatment program.

Choosing a Halfway House

In a Facebook video, a resident described “6 to 8 people” leaving Hope Village daily in an ambulance. These media reports are too often the only way we are able to retrieve public information about the internal conditions of halfway houses. From the lived experiences of those who have resided in halfway houses, it is clear that egregious conditions in halfway houses are common. Contrary to the belief that halfway houses are supportive service providers, the majority of halfway houses are an extension of the carceral experience, complete with surveillance, onerous restrictions, and intense scrutiny.

• Sober living houses, like halfway houses, maintain a strict abstinence policy which may be enforced with drug testing.
• The passage of Georgia General Assembly Senate Bill 4, which went into effect on July 1, 2021, makes this type of practice illegal.
• The shift to a more punitive punishment philosophy from the 1980s through the end of the 20th century was manifested in determinate and mandatory minimum sentences.
• A good facility will help you develop a personalized aftercare plan, which may include recommendations for trusted halfway houses or sober living facilities near you.
• Halfway houses, like other recovery and sober-living houses, are intended to gently reintroduce tenants back into society, free from the pressures and triggers of a potentially dangerous home environment.
• Although some halfway houses serve people experiencing psychiatric issues or homelessness, most focus on recovery from substance abuse issues.

If you’ve struggled to understand the different types of treatment, you’re not alone. Such an agreement also helps sober living home residents practice abstaining from substances while functioning in the real world. Some facilities require a minimum number of days of sobriety from substance abuse, but many will work what is a halfway house with you to determine if you’re a good fit. You may also wish to look up the facility on accreditation agency websites. The Better Business Bureau, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and the National Alliance on Recovery Residences all offer information on sober living facilities.

Types of Transitional Living

Halfway house staff helps recovering addicts and former inmates reintegrate back into society while living in a controlled environment. Halfway houses have a maximum limit of 12 months for residency, and for someone looking to establish a long-term sober living environment, a halfway house may not be ideal. On the other hand, intensive outpatient programs are even less intensive treatment providers, and IOPs require only a few hours per day for roughly 90 days. Like PHPs and inpatient rehab, an IOP will also provide behavioral health support in the form of therapy and similar programs.