26 Apr How to Spot a Bad Sober Living: Red Flags to Look Out For
After you complete the treatment process, you may be interested in going to a Delray Beach sober living home. Sober living homes are drug and alcohol-free living environments for people in recovery. However, not all sober homes are created equal. There are good sober homes and there are bad ones, so how do you know how to spot a bad sober home? Here are 5 red flags of a bad sober living to look out for so you can make the best decision.
No Admissions Requirements
Even though sober living does not offer counseling or therapy, most homes will require residents to complete an addiction treatment program before moving into the home. Some sober homes will require you to have already completed inpatient, while others will allow you to live there if you are actively participating in an outpatient program or PHP. Also, all reputable sober living homes will require you to pass an initial drug test to ensure that you have detoxed and have been sober for some length of time.
There are good reasons for these admissions requirements. If a sober home were to allow anyone to live there just off the streets, it could become a breeding ground for relapse and drug use. People often need some type of treatment to get sober, so these admissions requirements act as a screening process to be sure the beds in the home are going to help people who have demonstrated a willingness to get sober.
If the Delray Beach sober living program you are looking into does not have any admissions requirements, you should run the other way. This is a red flag that the home is a “flop house” or a poorly regulated sober living.
Free-to-Stay or Paid-to-Stay
A trustworthy sober home will require you to pay rent on a weekly or monthly basis. This is not only to cover the dues required to live there but also to help you get used to paying bills responsibly and prepare you for independent living. As a result, your living situation should operate in a similar way to a tenant-landlord agreement.
A sober living home that claims they are free or will pay you to live there is likely committing insurance fraud. And, there are not to be trusted. These homes are notorious for luring recovering addicts into their homes by offering free rent. Then, they may end up charging you or filing false claims with your insurance.
Upon your admission, you should be fully informed about all fees, charges, and rent payments that you are responsible for. This information should be clearly detailed in your paperwork.
No Rules, Regulation, or Oversight
Another red flag of a bad sober living is a home that has little to no rules, regulation, or oversight. Rules are in place to help keep an orderly and safe home. The rules are usually enforced by a live-in house manager or trained staff members who rotate shifts. Examples of common rules at Delray Beach sober living homes include:
- Weekly chore lists that assign chores to each member in the home
- Playing music at quiet and acceptable levels
- A nightly curfew to be home by
- Maintaining a clean personal space
- No visitors allowed
- No drugs, alcohol, or paraphernalia
A sober living home that does not have or enforce rules may be a flophouse. They may be profiting from people who live there while offering little to no sober support resources.
Run-Down Home or Dangerous Area
There are good and bad areas of Delray Beach. A safe and reputable sober home will be well-maintained and located in a safe, residential neighborhood. A reg flag that you may overlook that indicates a bad sober living home is if the home is run-down or located in a high-crime area.
When choosing a sober home, be sure to visit the home and see it for your own eyes rather than going off the pictures online. Pictures can be deceiving. Be sure to take a tour of the facility before moving in and be sure everything in the home is well-kept.
While touring the home, here are a few things you can look out for:
- Neat and clean interior
- Clean and private sleeping areas
- Well-maintained exterior grounds
- Signs of bug or rodent infestation
- Broken locks, doors, windows, or walls
If you tour the home and feel unsafe or unsure of your surroundings, you may want to trust your gut and look for a different program.
No Regular Drug Testing
One of the primary reasons for sober living homes is to provide a safe, sober, and supportive living environment to people in recovery. One of the rules that should be enforced to help support a drug and alcohol-free environment is mandatory drug testing. Drug testing can help hold residents accountable and make sure everyone is being honest about their sobriety. It can also help remove people from the home who are using drugs or alcohol. This helps keep the home safe for everyone.
When it comes to drug testing, there should be:
- A written policy outlining the drug testing process
- A detailed policy outlining the disciplinary process residents must go through if they fail a drug test
- Clear rules about medication policy
- Mandatory and random drug tests and/or breathalyzer
If you truly want to stay sober, you don’t want to live somewhere with active substance users in early sobriety. As a result, you need a sober living home that requires frequent drug tests.
Find The Best Sober Living Home in Delray Beach Today
At Florida Recovery Group, we understand the fears and concerns family members have before sending their loved ones to a sober living home. Many fear their loved ones will end up in a flophouse or part of an insurance scam. Or, they fear their loved one will fail in sobriety and end up relapsing. That’s why we dedicate much of our time and resources to operating honest, trustworthy, and transparent sober living homes in Delray Beach.
To learn more about our Delray Beach sober homes or to see if you are a good fit for sober living, give us a call today.
