TROHN

Recovery residences provide a vital service for initiating and sustaining long-term recovery and many thousands exist in the United States. They go by different names (Oxford House ™, sober home, sober living, halfway house, quarter house, three-quarter house…), and their history can be traced back to the mid-1800s. Today, they can be found across the United States and other countries.  The National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR) created a common nomenclature, defined fidelity standards and a code of ethics, and identified four types or Levels of Support. One Level of Support is not better than another. All recovery residences are founded on social model recovery philosophy, but beyond that they can range in the type and intensity of services they provider. 

Recovery houses are the nonclinical portion of the recovery residence spectrum: NARR Level 1s, 2s and most 3s. Recovery houses are family-like, shared living environments free from alcohol and illicit drug use and centered on peer support and connection to services that promote sustained recovery from substance use disorders. 

A growing body of research reveals that recovery housing increases abstinence, employment, and income, improves psychiatric symptoms, and decreases arrests and recidivism.