A halfway house - also referred to as a transitional or sober living home - is a group home for people who are trying to recover from substance abuse and addiction. These homes tend to be privately owned although there are also some that are owned by charitable organizations and businesses. They are typically located in quiet neighborhoods to ensure that all the residents are able to enjoy a peaceful environment - which is useful during the early stages of recovery from addiction.
Although these homes are designed to help you overcome your substance abuse, they are different from regular rehabilitation facilities. In a rehabilitation center, you will be provided with intensive treatment and recovery services. these centers will also curtail your freedom to reduce your risk of relapse.
In a halfway house, you will be able to come and go as you please. However, there will still be a couple of house rules that you have to abide by. For instance, the home might set curfews so that you are forced to be back at the facility at a particular hour. They may also require that you maintain regular employment or provide them with proof that you are looking for this type of employment. Some of them will even subject you to periodic and random drug testing so that you maintain your sobriety while staying at the center.
While living in a halfway house, you will be expected to maintain your own responsibility and take care of yourself. This is an essential step towards full recovery because addiction might have caused you to lose your sense of responsibility and obligation. You might also have been enabled in your addiction by your friends, family, and loved ones.
During your stay in such a facility, to this end, you will be required to pay for your rent, take care of some of the chores at the center, buy your food, and do several other things that you would still be doing if you were back at your own house.
That said, rules will differ from one house to another. Even so, there are certain rules that tend to be common among most of these sober living facilities. You will have to agree to respect all these rules before you move in as well as understand that violating them will lead to negative consequences.
Based on your violation of the rules, for instance, you might have to make amends to other residents, write essays about your harmful actions, or pay fines. If the violation is serious - such as continuing to abuse drugs and alcohol even after being warned repeatedly - you may be forced to leave the facility.
The existence of these rules in halfway houses in West Virginia is not to punish you. Rather, it is to ensure that you maintain your sobriety and abstinence from all the intoxicating substances that you were abusing. Due to these rules, it is highly likely that you will be able to keep up with your recovery goals much easier while living in such a sober living environment than if you transitioned from addiction treatment back to your home environment immediately.
