Andrew Lamb explains that sober living homes are regulated differently by state. Arizona, Utah, and New Jersey require licenses, while Pennsylvania offers optional licensing. National certification through the National Alliance for Recovery Residences is recommended but not required.
Another question are sober living homes are regulated or licensed? Sober living homes are licensed in some states. There absolutely are a few states that require licenses Arizona, Utah, New Jersey to some extent and Pennsylvania at this point has a kind of a licensing optional licensing process if you want to get referrals from state licensed programs like treatment centers instead of just a state certification. Certifications are also optional across most of the United States. These are not state licenses but these are certifications through the national alliance of Recovery Residences which has state affiliates in a lot of areas. Not every area like Nevada doesn't have one right now. I think some areas in the Northeast might not be covered currently but there is a national certification and no matter what I do recommend at least adhering to the NARR code of ethics if you're running a sober living home because it just ensures that you're going to run a really good program and that people are going to have better outcomes.
