Let's say you or a loved one has nearly completed a treatment program for addiction to alcohol or other drugs. Or maybe you're starting an outpatient program, but living at home isn't a sober, supportive environment for you. Now what? Maybe a recovery home for sober people is a good fit for you. Sober housing, sober homes, and recovery homes go by similar names.
They provide aftercare for people who have completed addiction treatment. Residents are staying in a sober, supervised house. Both want to achieve full independence after demonstrating consistent sobriety. While homes for sober people and social reintegration centers share similarities and serve the same purpose, they are different in many ways.
If you're trying to decide if you should go to a home for sober living or to a social reintegration center, we've outlined those distinctions to help you make better choices. Sober living homes can provide a valuable platform for people who are just beginning their sobriety journey to progressively develop newly acquired life skills and survival mechanisms. Of course, there are a number of additional factors that influence the overall quality, effectiveness and appropriateness of a sober living program. In some ways, it's easy to understand why people confuse the difference between a sober life and centers of social reintegration.
Think of sober living as your support network as you practice new skills, gain new knowledge, and shape your new life in recovery with others who may be facing the same challenges. Social reintegration centers are very similar to other homes for sober people, and it's no surprise that people often confuse them. They are regulated differently and are supervised by a “house manager” who is also a recovering resident. Case managers are also responsible for addressing difficulties that may prevent homeless people from accessing liveable housing alternatives in other housing programs.
A sober life is, as it seems, a place to stay where you will have a community that will support you and you can start a new life without alcohol or other drugs. A social reintegration center is a structured temporary housing arrangement that supports recovery for a person leaving the inpatient standard of care. You can live in a social reintegration home if you're newly sober, have detoxified, are willing to stay sober, and can commit to following the house rules. Today, many are still housing recently released offenders or are used as a solution for the homeless, while other transition centers are dedicated to housing people who have recently completed treatment for addiction.
Social reintegration centers were first established in 18th century England to house young people who had committed crimes. In addition, the word “social reintegration center” has a negative connotation, since the news talks a lot about suspicious operations and overdoses in social reintegration centers. However, insurance sometimes covers sober living, making this a viable option for people who could benefit from this level of support. One thing to keep in mind is that the phrase “center for social reintegration” has grown to mean different things in different parts of the country.
