Participation in an Oxford House for 6 months or more, may offer a substance-free community that helps promote engagement in recovery-related activities. A variety of other studies have also found that sober living homes appear to be an effective component of the recovery process. An American Journal of Public Health study compared what is an oxford house individuals who lived in a sober living home to those who only received outpatient treatment or attended self-help groups. Several factors determine length of stay, such as the severity of the addiction, a person’s history of substance abuse, their recovery progress, ability to follow rules and ability to pay rent.

Why is it called an Oxford House?

They chose the name Oxford House in recognition of Oxford Group, a religious organization that influenced the founders of AA.

Hiller ML, Knight K, Simpson DD. Risk factors that predict dropout from corrections-based treatment for drug abuse. Bishop PD, Jason LA, Ferrari JR, Huang CF. A survival analysis of communal-living self-help, https://ecosoberhouse.com/ addiction recovery participants. Belyaev-Glantsman O, Jason LA, Ferrari JR. The relationship of gender and ethnicity to employment among adults residing in communal-living recovery homes.

If you live here you’ll find:

Sober living homes don’t require accreditation, a state license or oversight from a behavioral health care provider. The lack of regulation has led to the creation of homes that lack access to support services or strict rules. Establishing a sober lifestyle is difficult during the early stages of recovery.

  • As a consequence, alcohol and substance use recidivism following treatment is high for both men and women (Montgomery et al., 1993).
  • In 2015 NARR released a metric that determines 4 levels of Recovery Residences.
  • Of note, members were able to stay or leave the residence voluntarily – 95% moved out of their respective Oxford Houses at some point over the 2-year study, for example.
  • Together, increased productivity and, significantly lower incarceration rates yielded an estimated $613,000 in savings to society per year, or an average of $8,173 per Oxford House resident.

In the U.S., over 9,800 people live in these self-run dwellings where they obtain jobs, pay utility bills, and learn to be responsible citizens. Beginning with one single rented residence in the mid 1970s, Oxford Houses now number over 1,300. These rented homes are helping to deal with drug addiction and community re-entry by providing stable housing without any limits on length of stay, a network of job opportunities, and support for abstinence. An exploration of the research on these unique settings highlights the strengths of such a community-based approach to addressing addiction.

Oxford House Recovery Homes: Characteristics and Effectiveness

An Oxford house is also a housing program designed to support people committed to a sober lifestyle. However, there are many differences between an Oxford House and a Halfway House. A major difference is that an Oxford house does not include supervisors or paid staff.