Recovery Residences National Standards (NARR)

Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a topic that regularly makes the news, and even more so these days as millions grapple with the fallout from adjusting to life during and coming out of a worldwide pandemic. The need for quality treatment for substance use disorders has risen, causing many companies and individuals to wonder how to start a sober living home to fill that need. And with that comes the need for proper certification such as that from National Alliance for Recovery Residences, also known as NARR.

Sober living homes used to be referred to commonly as “halfway houses”. Typically dependent on state and federal funding in order to operate, halfway houses often earned their reputation as providing less than optimal care that lacked treating the residents beyond a stop-gap type of approach. The first thing to remember when considering how to start a sober living home involves understanding that today’s sober living homes provide vastly improved services that cover a wider range of treatments, allowing for greater success levels.

Modern sober living homes also allow residents to decide how long they will stay rather than leaving too soon due to budgetary restraints. Home managers and treatment providers work with residents to determine their individual needs and what payment options they have, resulting in a realistic plan for the optimum time for them to stay in the home.

While in the past, certification of sober living homes was not required, it has become more of an issue recently. Many financial institutions, granting agencies, staff, and residents look for homes that prove they meet a minimum level of professionalism and health standards, and uphold responsible, ethical standards of operation.

National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR) does not issue certification for recovery residences, but its licensed affiliates do. These affiliate organizations are responsible for certifying recovery residences which they determine to meet the required national standards. When a sober living home can show they have received certification via a National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR) affiliate, it opens doors not available to homes that do not take this step.

It might seem like the only big concerns for opening a sober living home involve having the finances and picking the right spot. Often when someone realizes the often overwhelming amount of decisions that have to be made and the expertise it requires to make them, they end up giving up on their goal. Bloom Consulting can assist you in determining the best way to secure financing and create a business plan, but we go way beyond that to provide a lot more data and planning advice that you need. We’ve compiled a list of some of the areas of concern related to opening a sober living home: