Louisiana has very few regulations for sober living homes and a high rate of addiction due to a history of pill mill proliferation and a high rate of diseases of despair linked to population-wide economic struggles and natural disaster-related trauma. The Louisiana Association of Recovery Residences offers a voluntary certification program, while actively discouraging investors from outside the recovery community from establishing sober living homes in the state. Finally, the lack of a centralized directory of sober living homes in Louisiana means that it is time consuming to evaluate the existing marketplace and identify emergent needs for sober living in the state.
However, given these pros and cons, Louisiana is still a great state to open a sober living home. Read on for more information about what you need to know to get started.
Louisiana Regulates Addiction Treatment Centers, But Sober Living Homes Are Not Required to Get Certified by the State
We’ve written about how to get an addiction treatment center licensed by the state of Louisiana but while BHSPs - or Behavioral Health Service Providers - are required to get certified by the state, sober living homes are not. You can seek optional certification from the Louisiana Association of Recovery Residences (LARR) but it is not required by the state, nor is there any government incentive for doing so at this time. However, with regulation of sober living homes becoming increasingly common in the United States, it’s likely that regulations will come to Louisiana soon. When they do, if Louisiana patterns itself off of the national trends, then the standards put forth by LARR are likely to be the same standards used by the state to confirm sober living home certifications.
The Louisiana Association of Recovery Residences Discourages “Investors” Outside the Recovery Community from Opening Sober Living Homes in Louisiana
The Louisiana Association of Recovery Residences has some of the strongest pro-resident language we’ve encountered on any NARR affiliate website. The following message appears on their homepage:
We love that they are passionate about protecting our vulnerable residents and ensuring that only the highest quality homes receive certification. The language on their website is unambiguous: LARR asks operators to question their motives for opening a sober living home if they are not, themselves, in recovery, or otherwise active in the profession of addiction medicine.
LARR Uses the “Levels of Service” Model to Certify Sober Living Homes Accommodations in Louisiana
LARR uses the same Level system prescribed by NARR. Levels one and two do not have 24/7 supervision while Levels three and four do. Level one is typically an Oxford model home without any paid positions. Level two describes a home with at least one paid staff person, but that person may not be present continuously. Level three describes a sober living home with a live-in house manager. Level four homes are typically attached in some way to a clinical setting. Clinical services delivered by credentialed staff are present.
Applying for Certification with the Louisiana Association of Recovery Residences is Straightforward and Easy
The process for applying for certification with LARR is straightforward. First, you select the level of support that best describes your sober living home. Next, you submit your application. In order to complete your application, you must complete a public company profile which will be viewable to the general public on the LARR website. When your application is complete, it will be reviewed according to LARR standards. A peer review and physical inspection is required before a one-year certification is issued.
It’s Difficult to Say How Many Sober Living Homes There are in Louisiana
There aren’t any good stats on how many sober living homes there are in Louisiana, but it seems likely that the answer is: not enough.
The Louisiana Department of Health maintains a directory of “Halfway Houses and Other Community-Based Facilities” on its website but the directory is small and only lists 14 facilities. While it would likely only list certified sober living homes, The Louisiana Association of Recovery Residences doesn’t maintain a list of active members, either. The SAMHSA website lists only 7 sober living homes within 100 miles of Lafayette and only 9 within 100 miles of Baton Rouge. It seems likely that there are many more homes than those listed on the SAMHSA website, but without a centralized directory, it is difficult to know for sure.
NIMBYism is an Issue for Louisiana Sober Living Home Operators, Despite Federal Protections
Many sober living homes in Louisiana are faith-based facilities, but even these face NIMBYism and “good neighbor” concerns. Two so-called “gratitude houses” in Denham Springs recently faced serious opposition from neighbors, mostly due to traffic concerns. Baton Rouge recently lost a federal lawsuit brought by the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, which affirmed fair housing rules protecting sober living home residents on the basis of their protected health and disability status. Another sober living home in Lake Charles had to battle against State Fire Marshal requirements for expensive sprinklers and other fire safety upgrades typically not required of single family housing.
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