Recovery Housing: Evolving Models to Address Resident Needs

ABSTRACT

Recovery housing is a service delivery modality that simultaneously addresses the social support and housing needs of those in recovery from substance use disorders. This article describes a group of recovery homes in Texas (N = 10) representing a lesser-studied type of recovery housing, one which explicitly bridges treatment and peer support by providing a variety of recovery support services. All residents meet with a recovery coach, undergo regular drug screening, and have access to intensive outpatient treatment—a program that was developed specifically to support the needs of residents in the homes. Unlike the Oxford House^TM model and California sober living houses, which are primarily financed through resident fees, these homes are supported through a mix of resident fees as well as private and public insurance. While adhering to some aspects of the social model of recovery, none of these homes would meet criteria to be considered a true social model program, largely because residents have a limited role in the governance of the homes. Residences like the ones in this study are not well-represented in the literature and more research is needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Addiction
• recovery
• recovery housing
• recovery residences
• recovery support services
• sober living

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Colleen Culton of Eudaimonia Recovery Homes, as well as Thomasina Borkman at George Mason University and Jason Howell of the Texas Recovery-Oriented Housing Network, for providing comments on early drafts of this article and for their ongoing support of this study. Preliminary findings from this study were presented in a poster at the 2016 Addiction Health Services Research conference held in Seattle, WA.

Funding

Work on this article was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21DA039027). The funding agencies had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis or interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIDA or the National Institutes of Health.

Notes

¹ Recovery coaches must have knowledge of the recovery process, and peer recovery coach certification is encouraged.

Additional information

Funding

Work on this article was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21DA039027). The funding agencies had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis or interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIDA or the National Institutes of Health.