Who Pays for Sober Living?

Published: 02/15/2024 | Author: Olivia Pennelle

Finding safe and stable housing is a major influencing factor in achieving long-term sobriety. Sober living has been associated with significant improvements in the lives of people trying to stay sober and increased their odds of staying sober. This is important because recovery requires continual effort to sustain recovery. But, who pays for sober living? This article explains what sober living is, who it benefits, how much it costs, and other important information to consider when planning recovery.

What is Sober Living?

Sober living is a safe and stable environment that provides a supportive living environment for people to maintain their sobriety. Recovery housing is also referred to as Oxford Houses, sober homes, halfway houses, or recovery homes. Their role is to provide a structured environment that promotes recovery and helps individuals to transition back into their community. 

Typically, a sober living home provides some kind of support in the following ways:

• Peer support groups
• Recovery meetings
• Case management
• Employment support
• Skills training
• Connection to social services, like housing, benefits, and health insurance
• Legal support
• Parenting classes

What Are the Benefits of Sober Living?

Sober living has been associated with improved outcomes in the following areas:

• Criminal justice (with reduced odds of arrest)
• Attaining employment
• Mental health (with less psychiatric problems)
• Abstinence maintained (even 12 and 18 months after leaving sober living)

Sober Living vs Rehab

There is a difference between sober living and rehab. A drug and alcohol rehab provides addiction treatment for people with substance use disorder. Typically, that’s on an inpatient basis, where individuals may also detox from substances, attend individual and group therapy, and learn the skills it takes to stay sober. Rehab can last for 30 days to several months, depending on the severity of addiction.

Sober living, however, does not provide treatment. It is for people who have already achieved sobriety in some kind of rehab program. According to the National Association of Recovery Residences, there are four types of sober living:

Level 1: Peer run, by individuals with lived experience of recovery and sober living. Typically this is a single-family home with a senior resident on-site but there are no paid employees.

Level 2: Monitored – these are run by a house manager of a family home or apartment. The manager is paid for their role. Typically, these are peer-run and house recovery meetings. But there are no clinical staff on-site.

Level 3: Supervised – these are run by an administrative team, with policies and procedures. Residents may live in a range of environments and receive skills training and clinical services.

Level 4: Integrated with clinical services, a larger organization, skills training, and a larger structured environment.

Recovery homes are a transitional step to support individuals who are ready to leave rehab but may benefit from a structured recovery environment to sustain their sobriety. They do this by helping individuals to achieve what is called Recovery Capital, which means the internal and external resources needed to maintain sobriety. 

Recovery capital consists of:

• Personal capital: the resources to fulfill basic needs, like healthcare, financial resources, food, shelter, and transportation
• Human capital: problem solving skills and abilities, knowledge, education, and interpersonal skills
• Social capital: relationships with friends, family, and supportive partners, and recovery-related events
• Community capital: peer support, recovery resources, sober living, collegiate recovery, recovery community organizations
• Cultural capital: faith and culturally-based resources

Who Should Consider Sober Living?

Nearly a third of individuals seeking substance abuse treatment have insecure housing when entering treatment, making them an ideal candidate for sober living. Other people that may want to consider sober living include:

• Individuals with severe substance use disorders
• People with low recovery capital 
  • Folks with a lack of social and community support
  • People without jobs or employment skills
  • Those without secure housing
  • Individuals without financial resources
• Folks who have completed inpatient rehab and want to work towards independent living

How Much Does Sober Living Cost?

The cost of sober living varies depending on the type of recovery home and length of stay. Usually, the more amenities and services, the more it is likely to cost. Some homes charge a monthly rate and may include all or some of the following:

• Accommodation
• Meals
• Meetings
• Transportation
• Drug testing
• Peer services
• Clinical support
• Recovery coaching
• Gym

Some privately owned facilities can offer more luxury accommodations and amenities, like a pool, and single bedrooms, costing more money. However, publicly funded facilities are likely to have less facilities but may offer partial funding or sliding scale payment options. This is one of the reasons that recovery homes require residents to obtain employment, so they can pay some or all the costs of their stay. In some cases, health insurance will cover some of the cost. Be sure to check with your provider to check out out-of-pocket coverage.

Some privately owned facilities can offer more luxury accommodations and amenities, like a pool, and single bedrooms, costing more money. However, publicly funded facilities are likely to have less facilities but may offer partial funding or sliding scale payment options. This is one of the reasons that recovery homes require residents to obtain employment, so they can pay some or all the costs of their stay. In some cases, health insurance will cover some of the cost. Be sure to check with your provider to check out out-of-pocket coverage.

Uninsured vs Medicare/Medicaid

Medicare and Medicaid cover inpatient treatment and professional services by clinicians, and outpatient treatment, like outpatient or partial hospitalization. However, the costs associated with sober living are not listed within these services. Medicaid, on the other hand, can cover some recovery services for low-income adults, but it depends on the state and the circumstances of the individual. Be sure to check with your state health department to check your eligibility and services available. 

For those uninsured, there are scholarship and funding options available at some recovery homes. Be sure to ask the admissions office for low income and uninsured options.

How Long Can You Stay in Sober Living?

Residents can stay in sober living for as long as they need and as the home permits. Each recovery residence is different, depending on their funding, and level of home. Some people may want to stay for six months, or up to two years. It really depends on how they are progressing in their recovery, their financial resources, and the capacity of the home.

General rules + guidelines for sober living

While every sober living home is different, they have common guidelines/expectations of residents, including all or some of the following:

• A curfew
• No overnights allowed either at the home or staying outside the home
• Sharing chores/household responsibilities
• Random drug/alcohol testing
• Attend a certain amount of recovery meetings per week
• Respect the boundaries of others
• Clean up after yourself
• Pay on time
• Attend all house meetings
• Stay abstinent and do not bring drugs or alcohol into the home
• Have a prescription for any regular medication

If you or someone you love is experiencing a substance use disorder, help is available. Call 800-963-1579 (Who Answers?) today to learn about your treatment options.