Recovery Residence Standards (Sober living that actually works) Standards for Sober Living

By the end of this video, you're going to know exactly what to look for in a really good recovery residence program, also referred to as halfway house, also referred to as sober living, also called transitional living. Sometimes, just like there's lots of things that these programs are called, there is a wide array of services out there. All of these programs are definitely not crazy equal. Some of them are put your rent in the box every week and pass a drug test and you're fine. And others of them almost mirror treatment services. If you're a parent out there and you're looking for these services for your child, whether you want to go straight into recovery residence or whether your child is stepping down out of a residential treatment program, you need to know what questions to ask and what a good program looks like. So I thought the best way to explain that to you would be to have you meet David. Now, David McNeese is the owner of Greenville Transitions, a top notch young men's recovery program located right here in Greenville, South Carolina. I'm going to ask David a bunch of questions about his program because I want you to understand what exactly goes into a very purposeful, well thought out program. That way you'll know exactly what questions you need to ask. When you're looking for these services, you've got to take things into consideration, like how many people are there, how long is the program, are there phases, what happens if they relapse, how is money managed, how do they get around, Is there transportation provided? All these questions and lots more are very important things to consider when picking the right treatment program for your son or daughter. You might want to grab a pen and a piece of paper to take some notes because David is going to give you some very, very valuable, useful information about what exactly goes into a recovery residence program.

So I've been out to the house. It's a super nice house.

Yeah, thank you.

When I went out there the first time, I was like, dang, I want to stay here. This is fantastic. And I was like. And this was before you having guys in there.

And I was like, david, you're really.

Going to put addicted guys in here. They're going to mess up your place. It looks so nice. Oh, yeah. And I remember asking you about that. Tell me your thoughts about why did you invest in such a nice place?

Yeah, well, first and foremost, I think I told you I had a lot of my mom's help in decorating and getting furniture because I didn't really know what I was doing, but I wanted it to be nice. I Wanted it to be spacious, and I wanted to have that at home feel. I want guys to be comfortable there. And, you know, this is a place where they get vulnerable and they open up about what's going on in their life and getting their life back on track. And I believe that that needs to be as comfortable as possible and have space. You know, you have houses that can cram 40 guys into a house, and there's houses that are like a large house, and there's 10 guys in there, which would have been a more suitable environment for me when I was getting sober.

Right.

To not have it so hectic with so many guys packed in.

Right. And the environment really kind of sets the stage, too.

Yeah, definitely.

Of what's going to happen here. Behavior. You know, if it's a nice house, then there's an expectation that, hey, we keep the house. Nice housing. Okay.

Yeah, they do a pretty good job job.

Yeah, they do. How many guys can your. Can Greenville Transitions hold?

We have 10 max.

Okay. Yeah, 10 max.

Yeah. And it's like a, you know, close to 5,000ft house. So it's plenty of space for. And if someone is in a mood and they need to walk off into the yard and catch, you know, have some fresh air, whatever, they can do that.

So. Would you ever want to have more than 10?

No.

Why not?

I mean, also, it's. It's a manageable number. Like, it's harder for guys to fly under the radar when you have 40 guys in a house. And even if you had two recovery coaches, a lot of guys are going unnoticed.

Yeah, there's too many. You can't keep your finger on top of everything.

Tabs on them.

Right.

You know, we try to be structured to the point where we know where our guys are at all times. That seems unmanageable with 40 guys.

In fact, don't y' all have, like, a tracking app or something the guys have to use?

We do.

Yeah.

When they get past phase one, where they can start going and doing their own thing, they have to have a tracking app on their phone.

Okay.

Just so we know, like, where they are, that they're safe.

And it's not just too. That y' all know all the guys know where all the other guys are. Isn't that right? Like, does everybody can see it? Everybody that's got the app in the house?

Yeah.

Okay. So everyone knows where everyone else is.

Yeah. Okay. I mean, it's like. It's a. It's a family app.

Yeah.

A family system that we have going on.

Okay. So you really do know, even when they're on a higher phase where they have more freedom, you, you know what's going on, where they are, if they're where they're supposed to be and that sort of thing. Okay, what happens if they turn it off?

They get their electronics taken or their keys taken.

Okay. Do you have that happen very often?

No, I actually have never had that happen where someone just turned it off and it sends me alerts if like their batter is getting low and it gives them a reminder to charge their phone if their battery's low. So now they've been pretty good with that.

Yeah.

Cuz turning a tracking app off can't really mean but one thing. Right. So it's a dead giveaway.

I would think it is.

Okay.

Yeah.

So you mentioned the phases. Phase one, obviously is the first stage. What, what does phase one encompass?

To give you a brief overview of that. So phase one is 45 days minimum. We ask that they not work, they're not in school. We really want them to focus on their recovery. And that time we want them to figure out what meetings they like. They'll be going to meetings every day. We want them to get a sponsor, start working steps. Most guys are kind of new to the recovery scene in Greenville, so it's like wrapping our heads around that. And also to keep them busy. Like they get a gym membership with us. So we take them to the gym Monday through Friday pretty much every day. They volunteer twice a week. We provide their groceries, so they'll have two grocery runs per week. We provide their therapy, so they'll have therapy, an individual session per week and Iop during the week.

And they have a family session too.

And a family session as well for the family. It's very important us to keep the family involved in this process. A lot of times you see once guys leave treatment and go to server living or halfway house or whatever, the family breaks off from therapy. They're not receiving any more help. And you know, that can cause some chaos. It's good for the family to continue to get help with the child or with the resident.

I don't know of hardly.

I'm trying to think if I know of any other program, that transitional living that includes therapy. Why did you want to do that?

I just saw the need for it. And talking to, you know, therapists at other treatment centers and the medical directors at other treatment centers, there was a big break there. Therapy for families just stopped after treatment. I mean, in treatments a lot of times you have family weeks or like the family weekend. Yeah, family weekend, where they're getting some education and families have a lot of questions. They have. My son asked me this, what do I do? Or my son did this. How do I respond to that?

Or they're wanting to come home.

Yeah.

And it's, should I go get them?

That's a big thing. Someone in your corner.

Right.

For those questions. Yeah.

And so the phases sort of continue from that first phase, which is all about. You're wanting them to get their recovery foundation solid before you add in anything else.

Yeah.

Which I think is so important because so many times these places, which is important for these young guys to learn to work. And families want, you know, their son to do this quickly because they feel like they're already behind. They're probably behind their peers, and they want them to jump out there. But if you start a new job, naturally your attention is going to be on a new job, and you can't balance that when you need all your attention to go to recovery. So I think it's a mistake to have them working right out the gate.

Me, too. I mean, this is a process that you can't rush. I mean, I went through this myself, and I remember going to my therapist, you know, two weeks clean, and I was like, I want to feel better now. And he was like, dude, you spent how many years of your life, like, wandering off the right path into the dark woods? Like, you're not going to be back in two days. I'm sorry. It just doesn't work like that. It takes a long time for your brain to heal. It takes a long time for you to figure out, you know, find new hobbies, new habits, healthy habits. So, yeah, that's. That's the point of that break in phase one is. And let's just dive into recovery. Let's put all of our attention there for now. And like I said, it's not like we're bored. We still have other things to do in phase one we don't want them to have. There's no family visits in phase one is another thing, because that can bring in a lot of distraction as well, depending on what's going on in the family. So phase one is a time for them to really turn in, look at what's going on, dive into the recovery, dive into the house, meet the guys.

Get stabilized, get your head on straight.

Exactly.

I tell parents sometimes it's like teaching someone to juggle. You hand them one ball and let them throw that around until they get it, and then you throw them one more and let them do that for a while till they get it. You don't want to throw them all the balls at once. Which I think is what happens when people come straight home after treatment or if they go into a really much less structured, like, recovery housing environment. It's like, okay, here you go. Make sure you pass your drug test, that sort of thing. You're just throwing them all the way out there, which in my experience, hasn't worked.

Yeah.

Okay. By the end, by phase four, their life should look pretty similar to the way it's gonna look when they leave. Is that right? Yeah.

I mean, by phase four, I mean, we're talking six to nine months down the road, and we're looking at, you know, independent living, like the next step being an apartment or maybe renting a house with a roommate, whatever that may be. We're there to assist you with that. But, yeah, you're pretty much getting your place at the end of the program.

Okay. So you're driving, you can be working, you're going to school, you know.

So to run through the phases, really quick, are the big changes after phase one, phase two, what changes? When they enter phase two is they're allowed to start school or work, but we still provide the transportation to and from, whether it's school or work. Phase three, but the big change there is they could have a vehicle in the house. If they have a personal vehicle or if they have one that the parents are willing to let them borrow, they could have it at the house. They still have to have the tracking app on, but they use that vehicle for school, work, appointments, like therapy, doctor, dentist, gym, and that's pretty much it. And then phase four, the big change is that's when it becomes more of a halfway house where it's very loose. They've earned the right to their freedom. They've shown that they're on top of it. They're on top of their recovery.

So they've started to manage their own recovery.

Exactly. And killing it in the house as far as chores and morning meditation. So in phase four, they're pretty much calling a recovery coach, saying, hey, I'm going on a date with this girl, taking her to dinner and a movie. I'll be back to the house by 11 tonight.

Right.

And the coach says, okay, cool, we'll see you then.

Right.

For a drug test.

Right. So they still have some accountability.

Yeah.

Right. But they can make their own decisions. They just need to communicate and that kind of thing. Okay. And you also. I think one of the things that's super important is you have 247 staff, like, real life staff. Can you talk about that? Yeah.

So we have recovery coaches that stay at the house with the guys overnight. They're there 24 7. And in phase one and phase two, those guys are pretty much with a recovery coach at all times. Like I said, we provide the transportation. So anytime a guy needs to go somewhere or we need to go somewhere as a program, whether it be grocery store volunteer, the. Those phase one and phase two guys are going with them.

Gotcha.

Just to, you know, give as much support as possible in those early phases while we're still diving into the recovery scene.

Okay. And so at night, there's someone there, even when they're sleeping. Okay.

There are. I mean, the coaches are there. They're sleeping as well. But they're available.

But they're on site.

Yes, they're on site. And it's not, you know, a senior resident. They. This is actually someone who is paid to be there, who is certified to be in the house with the guys.

Yeah. Cause that happens a lot in recovery houses. It's like somebody that's been there a long time seems to be doing pretty well. They're just kind of like. They don't really get paid to be a staff. They're just kind of like the head person in the house or something.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You see that a lot. So you have to be careful, like, when you're asking these questions about when you're figuring out that next step, your recovery residents, to ask questions like, okay, is your overnight staff, Are they, like, an employee, or are they just a senior resident? Because there's a big difference there.

Right. Definitely. Okay. You also do drug testing.

Yes.

How frequently do you do that?

In the early phases, when they're around the coach at all times. We typically do around two a week.

Okay.

Two random tests thrown in. And then as they get to phase three, phase four, where they're taking their own car places and going on dates and stuff like that, we throw a lot more in there. Breathalyzers, as well.

Because there's a lot more opportunity.

Yes. So they would have to come in, check in with the recovery coach, and they would get a drug test, Breathalyzer, whenever they got home.

Okay.

Even in phase four, they're allowed to have an overnight pass per week. So one night per week, they can go spend the night off somewhere, but they would have to be back to the house by morning meditation the next morning and ready for a drug test and breathalyzer.

Gotcha. So your program Is so structured. There's so many things involved. This is like a. You've really got. You've really got your finger on the. Or your hand on these guys. You know, what's going on. You've got a plan. It's so purposeful. But I'm guessing running a program like that, it's not the easiest thing. Why did you choose to put. I mean, that seems like it'd be a lot more work to do all that. Why'd you choose to go that way?

It is. It can be a lot at times, but I think that it's necessary. For guys in early recovery, you have to give them that time. You have to give them that support. You know, I like the word support more than I do structure, because I like to see it as like, we are helping you. We're guiding you along. We're here with you through this process. And I think that it's just much needed, you know, living a life in addiction, like, you don't have support. There is no structure in our lives. It is chaos, right? Like 247 chaos. And it's just necessary to go from that to something so structured in phase one, where you slowly ease off of that, and you get more and more freedom as you go along. You ease into the real world. It's just a necessary transition in my eyes.

So I think it's important. It's not just about staying sober, off drugs, but most of these young people have to learn how to be young adults, function as young adults in the world. So a lot of what's happening is that is teaching that, learning that.

Yeah. And helping with, you know, resume building or mock interviews, you know, for guys that have never done an interview before or, you know, getting transcripts sent over.

To start grocery shopping or grocery shopping, cooking a meal, budgeting, making an appointment. Yeah, all those things.

One of my favorite things is our trulink debit cards to help them budget. The parents can load their spending money onto that debit card, and I can see every purchase. I can control their daily limits to help them with that so they don't overdraft or overspend. The really cool thing about trulink is it also helps with. So say they tried to purchase alcohol with this card, it declines it.

Okay.

Or if they try to withdraw cash with this card, where they could go buy drugs with that cash, it declines it. I can limit where this card is used and what's purchased with this card. Okay. So that's pretty neat.

Yeah, that is pretty neat. Is there anything I didn't ask you about your program. I should have.

I mean, there's. There's a lot. It's hard to go over it, a brief interview, but I think we covered the basics.

Okay. Alright then. If you want to know more about David and how Greenville Transitions came to be, definitely check out the video where David actually tells his story and tells how addiction affected his life and how it moved him to start his own young men's recovery residence. And there's also a link in the description below that will take you right to the Greenville Transition site in case you want to learn more about them.

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