# The SOBER Homes Act: Understanding Recovery Housing Quality

The SOBER Homes Act directs the federal government to study recovery housing across America—those shared living spaces where people recovering from addiction live together while supporting each other's sobriety. Right now, there's no comprehensive national picture of how well these homes actually work, what standards they follow, or whether they're helping people stay sober. This bill aims to fix that by having the National Academies of Sciences conduct a detailed investigation into the quality and effectiveness of these facilities.

The study will examine everything from how many people live in each home to how long residents stay and what happens to them after they leave. It will look at both nonprofit and for-profit operations, small homes with just a handful of residents and larger facilities, and places where people voluntarily choose to live versus those ordered by courts. Importantly, the study will also investigate fraudulent and abusive practices—like misleading marketing claims about success rates, illegal patient brokering schemes where operators pay to recruit residents, and deceptive practices by online websites that list treatment facilities. The researchers will try to figure out whether these homes actually reduce substance use, prevent relapse, help people find jobs, and improve their lives overall.

The bill gives the National Academies about a year to complete their work and publish a public report with recommendations for how federal, state, and local governments can improve recovery housing quality and availability. It also identifies gaps in what we currently know about these facilities and recommends ways to collect better data going forward. The bill allocates $1.5 million to fund this research. After the study is done, the government will then fund additional research to fill in whatever knowledge gaps the initial study uncovers, ensuring that policymakers have solid information to make decisions about regulating and supporting recovery housing.

SOBER Homes Act

Levin, Mike

Studying Outcomes and Benchmarks for Effective Recovery Homes Act or the SOBER Homes Act This bill requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to study and make recommendations on recovery housing. Recovery housing refers to shared living environments free from alcohol and illicit drug use and centered on peer support and connection to services that promote sustained recovery from substance use disorders. As part of the study, NASEM must identify relevant research and data gaps that hinder reporting on the quality and effectiveness of recovery housing. After publication of the study, the Department of Health and Human Services must contract with an appropriate entity to conduct research to fill those gaps.