A Setup Guide for Residential Recovery Facilities
A Setup Guide for Residential Recovery Facilities
Whitney Rogers | 2024
Abstract
Addiction treatment has become a highly demanded subspecialty within the healthcare arena. While the demand for services continues to rise, gaps in care and the specific approach to intervention are both ongoing debates. Even though the clinical world remains convinced drug addiction is a disease,1 the faith-based community suggests addiction is a heart issue.2 Both groups have established what they believe is a fail proof approach to intervention, yet overdose rates continue to skyrocket across the country.3 It is common knowledge that inpatient treatment facilities exist across the world yet providers typically have little to no ability to follow up with clients after discharge leaving the outpatient setting to carry the heaviest burden of recovery silos, ensuring clients have access to ongoing care. Frequently, sober living facilities are considered a viable option for outpatient support; however, large gaps in care originate in the sober living model as most sober living facilities do not provide treatment accountability; they fail to extend holistic levels of care, and most do not offer the ability to integrate any form of case management within their approach resulting in the client receiving base level housing services that remain a far stretch from the treatment mentality.
To bridge the gap between inpatient treatment and the sober living stage of recovery, a coming-of-age model of recovery will be required to achieve the outcomes that society desperately wants to experience. Residential recovery provides a step-down option for clients discharging from inpatient facilities who have not yet progressed in their sobriety to appropriately qualify for a sober living environment but maintain acuity levels that do not require continued inpatient treatment. The beauty of this unique approach originates in the fact that clinical services can be facilitated by outpatient providers, leaving lay individuals or those with identified backgrounds with the ability to help reinforce treatment plans. The residential recovery model idealistically incorporates a triad model of intervention ensuring clients receive the clinical, social and faith-based support required for complete healing, yet all areas of intervention are completed in a long-term residential setting. The ongoing dialogue about residential recovery continues to originate in the fact that such assistance can be provided by non-clinical individuals pending the client is established with appropriate providers; however, the mystery remains how lay people can become equipped to extend such models without training or knowledge of addiction treatment.
This document attempts to provide clarity regarding ways lay individuals can operate quality residential recovery facilities. More specifically, the project will provide high level information on the main areas of operations and extend suggestions on how to leverage community resources to educate and equip staff who will become employed by the organization. The project will provide sample documentation within each area that can be customized to the needs of the organization and amended as the organization evolves and becomes more definitive in their service options. Moreover, specific information will be included within the manual that will address facility intakes, releases of information and client confidentiality, aggressive behaviors, COVID 19 and other contagion protocols, grievances, program phases, medical and behavioral health care coordination suggestions, life skills and employment related matters, legal compliance, disciplinary concerns and sanctions, and discharges. The purpose of the project is not to create an in-depth policies and procedures manual, but rather to serve as an easy to reference start up guide for lay individuals who desire to establish residential recovery facilities and do so with excellence.
1 Beaulieu, M., Tremblay, J., & Bertrand, K. (2024). Adjustments to Service Organization in Specialized Addiction Services and Clinical Strategies for Better Meeting the Needs of People with a Persistent Substance Use Disorder.International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction,22(4), 2229–2246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00982-z
2 Toronchuk, J. A. (2018). Addiction: Diseased Brain, Divided Will, or Restless Heart?Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith,70(4), 218–231.
3 Estadt, A. T., White, B. N., Ricks, J. M., Lancaster, K. E., Hepler, S., Miller, W. C., & Kline, D. (2024). The impact of fentanyl on state- and county-level psychostimulant and cocaine overdose death rates by race in Ohio from 2010 to 2020: a time series and spatiotemporal analysis.Harm Reduction Journal,21(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-024-00936-9