Sober House Directory provides information on sober house certification for each state in the database, including for sober living in Massachusetts. Please visit the Massachusetts Sober House Certification page for more information about sober house certification in this state. Sober house certification is an important factor to consider as you look for sober living. Massachusetts sober houses are certified by the Massachusetts Alliance for Sober Housing, or MASH.

Wherever you are in your recovery, this toolkit offers the support and resources people with OUD need as they navigate things like housing, employment, and treatment. It is for people in and seeking treatment and recovery, loved ones, providers, allies, and advocates to help navigate through these systems. Each section clearly outlines the rights you hold, how to exercise them, and where to get more support and resources.

Sober Living and Sober Houses in Massachusetts

When you finish some residential long-term or short-term drug rehab program in Massachusetts, you could stay at a sober living home. The purpose of a sober living home is to help recovering addicts work on sobriety. During this time, you can find full-time work, take advantage of courses or skills training, community involvement, or go back to school. Sober living communities are paid programs, that are typically set up for just men or only women. When you are living at any sober living home, you will have to take part in regular meetings or individual counseling.

Taxable trusts and private foundations that are required to file a form 990PF are also included. Small organizations filing a Form 990N “e-Postcard” are not included in this data. GAAMHA, Gardner, $75,000
MassHousing grant funds will help acquire and rehabilitate a four-bedroom sober home for eight residents in Gardner.

Treatment and Recovery General Resources

“We can say the house wasn’t a good one,” Schoepplein said with a laugh. “A lot of them were using. And when I’m early on [in recovery], I can’t be around that, because if it’s in front of me, there’s a good chance I’m going to do it.” “What would happen if you — I don’t want to say over-regulate, but that’s the best way to describe it — a lot of those houses would shut down,” he said.

• MOUD can be a short-term treatment option or a long-term one (known as maintenance).
• In Boston, problems from the concentration of drug addicts gathered in the area around Mass.
• We also link to copies of audits nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year since 2016.
• Vanderburgh House began operating sober living homes in 2016.
• Accurate information allows you to choose what’s right for you, which might change over time – and that’s okay.

While recovery house facilities such as Chelsea’s House have helped countless addicts, abuses have occurred owing to a lack of control. Dennis Gomez, 32, a recovering drug user from Roxbury, moved into the Strawberry Avenue house six months ago after serving three and a half years in prison for cocaine distribution. He said it benefited him in reconnecting with relatives and restoring his life. Chelsea’s House has expanded from humble beginnings to four facilities—three in Lynn and one in Chelsea—and currently rents rooms to around 60 recovering men, ranging in age from 18 to 75. The vast majority are parolees who have previously served prison sentences for drug possession, robbery, and other petty offenses.

Sober Houses in a Gray Area Between ‘Over-regulating and Under-regulating’

Individual occupants have no property interest in the house, which is owned by MSHC. He feels that an organized grievance procedure is required, for example, because otherwise, operators may appear respectable while exploiting renters. Another difficulty is that if the state does not certify enough residences, a backlog of referrals may form, leaving some addicts with nowhere to turn. Mental Health Association, Springfield, $22,850
Grant funding will help fund an in-house recovery specialist for nights and weekends at an affordable sober home for eight men in Springfield. Because of that reputation, about a dozen sober home operators formed the Massachusetts Association for Sober Housing eight years ago to try to set standards for the unregulated industry. “They may say that they’re testing, but that may lend itself to the house manager saying, ‘Give me $50 and I’ll say that you passed,’ ” Winant said.

Subsequently, on December 18, 2003, MSHC was notified by the city’s department of inspectional services of its obligation under G. 148, § 26H, to install an automatic sprinkler system at 68 Hooper Street. Without a sprinkler system, no more than five people would be allowed to live in the house. [Note 3] MSHC pursued an appeal of the city’s order to the Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Board (board). After a hearing, the board found it undisputed that the house would be “occupied by six or more persons not within the second degree of kindred to the person conducting it,” as § 26H required. Specifically, the board found that MSHC intended to establish a home for ten members of Oxford House.

Looking for Addiction Treatment? Call for Inpatient Drug & Alcohol Rehab 1-855-860-3119.

If you are pregnant and are looking for treatment options, the MA Substance Use Helpline can point you in the right direction. Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is effective and safe during pregnancy. Treatment with MOUD during pregnancy improves both the health and safety of the birthing person and of the fetus. No matter what type of treatment you engage in or how you define recovery, everyone has a right to access substance use disorder treatment and support services free of discrimination.

• Sober homes typically require residents to refrain from drug and alcohol use, and most conduct random drug testing.
• Recovery high schools are public high schools for youth ages that provide educational environments to support youth recovering from SUD.
• Effective September 1, 2016, state agencies and their vendors shall only be able to refer clients to certified sober homes.
• Treatment with MOUD during pregnancy improves both the health and safety of the birthing person and of the fetus.
• Beginning in January, Massachusetts sober homes were able to undergo a voluntary state certification process for the first time.

Since then, Vanderburgh House has contributed to the recovery community in many neighborhoods, strengthening and supporting the recovery community through promoting truly remarkable sober living. Thirty-three-year-old Jesse Centamore has been sober for the past four and a half years and now runs two sober homes operated by the treatment center Gosnold on Cape Cod. Joseph Schoepplein is a 22-year-old opioid https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/rappers-that-struggle-with-addiction/ addict in recovery and one of the Bauer House’s residents. Before coming to the Bauer House, he lived in a different sober house nearby, where he says the lack of structure was hard for him. Back in 2016, after a string of overdoses at sober houses across the state, a non-profit coalition called the Massachusetts Alliance for Sober Housing was given a contract by the state to certify sober houses.

MassMutual

Massachusetts recognizes the need for quality sober housing and recovery resources. The support provided by sober home communities is combined with local clinical recovery support organizations to serve those in recovery from addiction. BOSTON – November 17, 2022 – MassHousing has awarded a total of $143,332 in grant funding to help preserve 22 affordable sober housing units and provide supportive services to men, women, and children impacted by substance misuse. Please use the link to access information on Sober Housing Certification. This link includes an updated list of certified sober homes, the certification standards, a certification application for with instructions and how to file a grievance. Across the state, “sober homes,” residential settings that provide temporary housing to those who have gone through treatment and are trying to get back on their feet, are facing pushback from municipal officials.

And for those without health insurance, Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) sites offer many clinical services for people in recovery for free, and they won’t take any insurance information. Sober living homes in Massachusetts allow individuals to be independent and offer structure to help those starting their recovery journey. Transitioning from drug rehab to your life is not always easy, and sober living homes provide the needed support structure. To help, Drug Rehab Services has a comprehensive list of sober living homes in Massachusetts to help you find housing that is right for you. Enacting formal regulations would likely also mean requiring all sober houses conform to public building code, which would include putting in things like handicap ramps and sprinkler systems. Sober house operators must obtain training and have their properties examined on a yearly basis in order to be certified.

MSHC’s properties are run under the Oxford House sober housing model, which has three governing principles. First, an Oxford House must be democratically operated, with officers massachusetts association of sober housing elected from among the residents. Second, an Oxford House must be financially self-supporting, with each resident paying a weekly share of the property’s expenses.

The board found that the members of Oxford House rent the building from MSHC, which is the owner and landlord. Each week $115 is collected from each individual occupant and deposited into an Oxford House checking account. Oxford House then issues a monthly rent check to the landlord. The failure of any individual to pay the weekly rent may result, by vote of the others, in the eviction of the person who has failed to pay. Was “granted solely to the owner of 68 Hooper Street and does not apply to the property.” MSHC agreed that the maximum number of residents in the house would be ten and that they would be veterans.

“There are homes that are a complete mess, where a guy is putting in as many beds as possible and charging people rent.” RIZE Massachusetts is an independent nonprofit foundation working to end the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts and reduce its devastating impact on people, communities, and our economy. Navigating college and higher education can be hard for anyone but navigating while in recovery can bring new challenges.

• Any home not certified by September 1, 2016 will not be able to accept clients from state agencies or their vendors until certified.
• The Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Board is an agency with expertise and experience in the technical aspects of fire safety.
• Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $27.5 billion for affordable housing.
• Dennis Gomez, 32, a recovering drug user from Roxbury, moved into the Strawberry Avenue house six months ago after serving three and a half years in prison for cocaine distribution.

Every sober living home is drug and alcohol-free, and you will be subject to random drug and alcohol testing. The initial intake process for a sober living home will often require you to be 18 years old or older. You will also have to pass a background screening, and the initial drug and alcohol testing.