How Do I Find a Reputable Sober House?
While many generous and compassionate people open sober houses to help individuals in recovery, unfortunately, there are also many stories of sober homes that are not safe, stable, and healthy environments.
This could be due to the owner not paying enough attention to the people in the house, not drug testing, not visiting regularly, allowing the property to fall into disrepair, overcrowding, or simple greed. For many years, there haven’t been any real standards for sober homes to follow.
Luckily, there is now a governing body that aims to set standards. The National Alliance of Recovery Residences is working hard to establish guidelines for how a recovery/sober house should be run, and it is busy establishing chapters across the US.
In WA State, the organization is called WAQRR (Washington Association of Quality Recovery Residences), and you can search for a great sober home here.
Another wonderful resource for sober housing is the Oxford House system. These are nationwide, democratically-run houses that have been around since 1975, and there are dozens (sometimes hundreds) of them in most states. To search for a vacancy in an Oxford House, check the click on the main website link above or try this separate site.
