We’ve been waiting for Pennsylvania to finalize it’s “halfway house” regulations for quite some time. Today, those regulations were signed into law.
You can review the final regulation and some of the major reactions to the legislation in the sober living community here.
The big takeaways?
Many sober living homes in Pennsylvania will need to pony up for official state licenses in order to continue operating in the state. If you run a sober living home in the state and you’re interested in licensure, you’ll also need to check your paperwork, documentation, accounting, building and even staffing for compliance. Yes, the state has mandated detailed instructions for licensed sober living homes in each of these categories.
Now that we have the final drafts of these regulations in place, we’re able to use them to help guide would-be sober living home operators in Pennsylvania start down the right path towards building their sober living home businesses to withstand these regulations. If you’re thinking of opening a sober living home in Pennsylvania and you intend to accept state funds or state referrals of any kind, you’ll want to take special note of these recent changes.
Under the New State Regulations, Does Your Sober Living Home Need to be Certified or Licensed to Operate in Pennsylvania?
It depends.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), only some sober living homes will be required to submit to state licensing.
DDAP will require drug and alcohol recovery houses to get a license if they:
Want to receive referrals from state agencies or state-funded facilities, or
Want to receive federal or state funding to deliver recovery house services.
In addition, the law imposes two additional requirements on referrals to recovery houses:
persons whose treatment is funded with state or federal funds shall only be referred to licensed recovery houses.
courts shall give first consideration to licensed recovery houses when residential recommendations are made for individuals under their supervision.
Essentially, Pennsylvania has made good on it’s promise to go the way of other states, like Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri and Rhode Island, which requires “voluntary certification” for sober living homes that want to receive funding or referrals from state agencies. Pennsylvania has not gone so far as Florida, which requires all addiction treatment centers to restrict referrals to certified sober living homes. In Pennsylvania, private addiction treatment centers can continue to refer patients to the sober living home of their choice. But, if that patient receives state subsidies for housing, for example, those subsidies may not be used at an unlicensed sober living home.
Review Pennsylvania’s Existing Sober Living Homes to Identify Holes in the Market
Pennsylvania maintains a list of existing licensed sober living homes in the state. Reviewing these listings is a smart move for would-be sober living home operators in the state, because this list makes it quick and easy to identify holes in the market.
For example, there is only one licensed mixed-gender (or couple’s) home in the entire state. You’ll also notice that there are only four licensed homes set aside for pregnant women and women with children.
It’s also worth noting that several sober living home operators publicly resisted the state’s new requirement that licensed sober living homes not discriminate against residents on the basis of gender identity during discussions surrounding state regulation. These operators specifically stated that they did not wish to accommodate transgender residents at their homes. This suggests that the state may have a strong need for LGBTQ+ affirming sober living homes, as well.
Another great resource for this market research phase is Pennsylvania’s NARR affiliate, the Pennsylvania Alliance of Recovery Houses.
How to Apply for Sober Living Home or “Halfway House” Licensing in Pennsylvania
Because these official regulations are so new, the state’s website has not yet caught up to the changes. On it, they direct new sober living home operators to their local “Single County Authority” or SCA. You can search for your SCA’s contact information here. It looks like new licensing applications will likely be initiated and processed by these SCAs.
Prepare to Pay Fees and Provide Lots of Documentation to Get Your Sober Living Home Certified in Pennsylvania
These new state regulations require sober living homes to pay a flat licensing fee of $250. They also establish a complaint structure whereby sober living home operators can be fined $100 for each legitimate complaint filed by residents, family, friends or community members. And, yes, these complaints can be made anonymously. If more than three complaints are filed and judged to be legitimate, sober living home operators risk losing their license.
Considering Opening an Addiction Treatment Center Rather than a Sober Living Home in Pennsylvania?
If so, you’ll want to check out our blog post on Opening a Treatment Center in Pennsylvania on our sister site, Behave Health.
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