However, some halfway houses are designed to reduce drug relapse rates for high-risk individuals leaving incarceration. Yes, there are Oxford Houses in Canada, Australia and Ghana with active interest in England, Bulgaria and other countries. Alcoholism and drug addiction are international problems and Oxford Houses can provide recovering individuals the opportunity to become comfortable enough in sobriety to avoid relapse. The average length of jail time is about one year, with a range of few days to more than ten years. This is understandable since as many as 80% of the current jail/prison population are alcoholics and drug addicts.
Many individuals in society are able to abide by the strict letter of any rule, regulation , or law. Alcoholics and drug addicts seem to have a tendency to test and retest the validity of any real, potential, or imagined restriction on their behavior. By the time many of us had stopped drinking, we had lost jobs; we had lost families, and some of us either had no place to live or no place to live which was not an invitation to start drinking again. Oxford what is an oxford house House was founded not only to put a roof over our head, but also to create a home where the disease of alcoholism was understood and the need for the alcoholic to stay away from the first drink was emphasized. The bond that holds the group together is the desire to stop drinking and stay stopped. Modest rooms and living facilities can become luxurious suites when viewed from an environment of alcoholics working together for comfortable sobriety.
Q. How many individuals lived in an Oxford House during 2010?
During the last days of our drinking or using drugs, most of us ceased to function as responsible individuals. We were not only dependent upon alcohol and/or drugs, but were also dependent on many others for continuing our alcoholic and/or drug addicted ways. When we stopped drinking or using drugs, we began to realize just how dependent we had become. For those of us who had been in institutions or half-way houses, resentments against authority were common. The daily schedule at sober living homes is heavily influenced by the residents’ current stage of recovery. Some homes are highly structured, with strict schedules and consistent eating and meeting times.
- Rules vary depending on each home or accrediting organization, but most sober living homes have several rules in common.
- The charter of each Oxford House requires that an Oxford House meet certain minimum requirements of Oxford House, Inc.
- Oxford House, Inc. litigated the issue and in 1995 the United States Supreme Court considered the issue in City of Edmonds, WA v. Oxford House, Inc. et.
- Often several members of an existing House will move into the new House to provide a core group of new members who already know how an Oxford House works.
- Most homes house between eight and 15 members, with most staying about a year.
- Third, an Oxford House must, in essence be a good member of the community by obeying the laws and paying its bills.
- Thus, individuals who relapse are usually removed from the sober living home as soon as possible.
The best facilities employ compassionate staff and enforce strict rules that support the recovery process. All of a sober house’s residents are expected to pursue better health and a substance-free life. The Kentucky Oxford House/Group Home Loan Program helps to support those who are in recovery from alcohol and substance misuse. Groups of 6–12 individuals in recovery may apply for a low-interest loan for up to $4,000 to help acquire rental property and turn on utilities.
How Much Do Sober Living Homes Cost?
The Oxford House website contains an application and information about How to Apply to live in an Oxford House. In its simplest form, an Oxford House describes a democratically run, self-supporting and drug free home. Parallel to this concept lies the organizational structure of Oxford House, Inc.
It is not easy to spread the word of a new concept or an old concept with a new twist. Propagation, or spreading the word, of the Oxford House concept is given the highest priority by the members of Oxford House. The reason that each Oxford House is independent arises from the very practical consideration that those who are closest to a situation are best able to manage it.
