Staying in a Florida halfway house after you’ve completed your residential addiction treatment is a great way to keep your recovery on track. Halfway houses and sober living homes act as a bridge between rehab and the full return to outside living. These environments are safe, secure, and designed to give residents access to temptation-free living quarters. In a halfway house, you’ll learn accountability, have access to important resources, and be surrounded by like-minded individuals who are also committed to getting well. Halfway houses are affordable, and they’re structured to help all residents obtain comfortable and sustainable lifestyles. However, whenever you stay in a Florida halfway house, you’ll be required to remain completely drug and alcohol-free.
Florida halfway houses and sober living facilities require residents to take and pass regular drug and alcohol tests. This is but one of numerous rules that you must adhere to while living in these locations. Being able to pass weekly drug and alcohol tests shows that you’re doing all that you should to remain sober. These measures are also taken to ensure that other residents are not being exposed to temptations that might harm their recoveries. When residents fail drug or alcohol tests, they may be asked to leave.
The Benefits of Staying in a Florida Halfway House
The terms halfway house and sober living home are often used interchangeably. Although these facilities are similar in many ways, there are key differences to note. For instance, a halfway house is often a government-run location. In a halfway house, you’ll live in a dorm-like setting with other people who’ve recently completed inpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, or partial hospitalization programs. The cost of staying in a Florida halfway house is often fairly low. In fact, many halfway houses charge tenants rent based on a sliding scale that considers their monthly income.
Comparatively, sober living homes service fewer patients at once. Each person has their own private unit or room within the sober living facility. Many of these establishments are associated with recovery centers or managed by them. If you have private pay health insurance, your insurer might some or all of your sober living costs.
What’s similar is that each of these facility types have strict rules that residents must live by. These rules support continued sobriety for everyone living in the home by keeping the living space absolutely drug and alcohol-free. In addition to abstaining from drug and alcohol use and being able to pass routine drug test, you’ll also need to:
- Help with household chores
- Regularly attend sober meetings
- Take part in weekly or monthly community meetings
- Create a solid plan for achieving self-sufficiency
- Check-in with onsite counselors to report your progress
You can stay in a Florida halfway house for just six months or for as long as one to two years. During this time, you can:
- Go to work
- Complete career training
- Apply for social service programs
- Look for stable, long-term housing of your own
- Go to school
and take care of other important business. All sober living homes and halfway houses have firm curfews for residents. Apart from special exceptions made for those who work night jobs or have other approved, evening activities to complete, most locations require everyone to check in nightly before 9 p.m.
The consequences for relapsing in a halfway house can vary from one location to the next. For a first instance of physical relapse, you may lose your house privileges. Although everyone in a halfway house must submit to weekly drug testing, people with a history of relapsing in these environments are often required to submit to random drug testing as well. You will likely also have a stricter curfew, and you may need to keep onsite counselors informed of your whereabouts throughout the day. When a person living in a halfway house relapses multiple times, they’ll be asked to leave in order to protect the safety and recoveries of everyone else living in the home. Experiencing multiple relapses while living in any post-treatment environment is a strong indication of a need for additional addiction treatment or other addiction treatment types.
Going to a halfway house after completing your drug treatment is a great way to limit your risk of relapsing throughout the early stages of your recovery. In a halfway house, you’ll learn more about local options in transportation assistance, job search assistance, and housing assistance among other things. You’ll also have around-the-clock access to rehab professionals, and the camaraderie and companionship of residents who are also working hard to reclaim and rebuild their lives. If you want to learn more about living in a Florida halfway house, we can help. Call us today at 833-846-5669.