Oklahoma NARR affiliates continue to enjoy relatively sober living home friendly regulatory environment under OKARR advocacy
Oklahoma does not require sober living homes to get certified by any entity - including the state’s NARR affiliate - but Oklahoma Alliance for Recovery Resources (OKARR) has been issuing voluntary certifications to sober living homes in the state since 2020.
There does not seem to be any movement in the Oklahoma state legislature to make certification a requirement for operation in Oklahoma at this time. If anything, the state’s lawmakers have a relatively sober living home-friendly track record: the state added Title 43A to the books in order to enshrine protections against housing discrimination specifically for people with SUD living in sober living homes.
OKARR adds new sober living homes to its certification program regularly. You can check to see all of the sober living homes that have been certified by OKARR on the organization’s online directory.
News about sober living homes in Oklahoma is overwhelmingly positive. News coverage focuses on innovative programs, such as a recently opened sober living home in a refurbished midcentury hotel and a recently opened sober living home designed specifically for women.
For more on behavioral health business management in Oklahoma, see:
What You Need to Know Before Opening a Sober Living Home in Oklahoma
Connecticut NARR affiliate CTARR wants DMHAS to fund sober living home certification program
According to DMHAS’ website, Connecticut continues to not require sober living homes to be certified in the state. There are two different certifying bodies that are recognized by DMHAS. Those are the Connecticut Alliance of Recovery Residences, or CTARR (the NARR affiliate of Connecticut), and the Connecticut Coalition of Recovery Residences, or CCORR.
In addition to these entities, there is also an organization called Advanced Behavioral Health that oversees sober living homes that accept Connecticut Medicaid (aka Husky Health) reimbursements. Advanced Behavioral Health ensures that all the sober living homes that are approved for Medicaid residences meet certain requirements and standards set forth by the state.
As it is now, there are few regulations put forth by Connecticut on sober living homes. CTARR has been vocal in the press about wanting that to change. Karen Ablondi, vice president of CTARR, has been quoted in the New Haven Register, saying, “we want DMHAS to fund CTAR.” For now, Connecticut is the only New England state that doesn’t work with its NARR affiliate to issue certifications.
For more on behavioral health business management in Connecticut, see:
Consider These 6 Facts Before Opening a Sober Living Home in Connecticut
Connecticut is a Smart Choice for Opening Your Next Licensed Addiction Treatment Center
Without a NARR affiliate to advocate for the recovery community, sober living homes in Utah continue to operate under some of the strictest regulation in the nation
Utah is one of several states in the US with no active NARR affiliate. At present, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services Licensing and Background Checks division is responsible for overseeing the mandatory certification of sober living homes with what it calls “human services licenses.”
Interestingly, Utah is also one of the states in the union with the highest level of regulation for both sober living homes and addiction treatment providers.
Utah’s regulatory environment for sober living homes is relatively unique in that it 1) has a mandatory certification requirement for all recovery residences, and 2) this requirement was created in the early days of the nation-wide trend towards regulating sober living homes.
Utah began requiring all sober living homes to obtain state certification in 2014, while the majority of states began implementing certification requirements a few years later. Most states do not require all homes to seek certification. Of the states that do currently have certification requirements, most of the time those requirements are “voluntary” or only required for homes that accept Medicaid dollars and/or accept referrals from certified addiction treatment providers.
Because Utah was one of the first states to explore certification, and because it implemented regulations in a relatively “heavy handed” way, Utah quickly became a battleground state for fights against regulation.
In Anderson v. Utah, brought in 2016, it was alleged that some of Utah’s initial regulations were too burdensome on sober living home operators. A decision was never explicitly made on the case, but the court issued a temporary injunction against the regulations, essentially hitting pause on the enforcement of the laws until some problematic details could be ironed out. During this temporary injunction, state lawmakers decided to roll back some of the most “burdensome” regulations at issue in Anderson v. Utah. Rules requiring licensed, live-in staff at sober living homes and some of the over-zealous “physical plant requirements” for the homes themselves contained in the initial regulations were removed from the state lawbooks.
For more on behavioral health business management in Utah, see:
Considering Licensing an Addiction Treatment Center in Utah? You’re in for a Treat.
Defining Your Sober Living Home Business Strategy in Utah
List of treatment facilities in Utah
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