People in Recovery Have the Right to Fair Housing

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Each September, National Recovery Month is celebrated to honor the strength and resilience of the recovery community, as well as the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery in all its forms possible. Additionally, it is a time for us to rethink how we can each do our part in order to ensure that every American has access to the services and support they need to recover and rebuild their lives.

Nearly 1 in 3 adults has a substance use disorder or mental illness. Odds are, you or someone you know will struggle with substance use disorder or mental illness at some point in your lifetime. While the journey to recovery is not easy, it is possible. Currently, more than 20 million Americans are in recovery from substance use disorder. With the appropriate resources and support available, healing and recovery can be made possible for even more Americans.

Stable Housing is Necessary for Recovery – But Barriers Persist.

The important role stable housing plays in a person’s recovery cannot be overstated. For people with substance use disorder, housing is a vital tool for sustaining recovery. On the other hand, living without housing has been shown to exacerbate symptoms of substance use disorder. Despite the fact that housing can be a key element to maintaining one’s sobriety, people with a history of substance use often face substantial barriers to accessing fair, stable, and affordable housing.

Barriers Due to Criminal Background Screening  

22% of people with a substance use disorder have a history of incarceration. Previous incarceration presents significant challenges to accessing housing, treatment, health care, and other important basic needs. People with a history of incarceration are also seven times more likely to experience homelessness, creating even more barriers to safety and stability. While federal fair housing law does not explicitly prohibit criminal background screening, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released guidance and a memo in recent years, explaining how the Fair Housing Act applies to housing policies with regard to criminal background checks. HUD’s 2022 Memo regarding its 2016 Guidance on this topic recommends private housing providers not use criminal history to screen tenants for housing. Criminal history is not a good predictor of housing success and, in fact, often causes disproportionate harm to Black and Latinx communities, due to racial disparities within the criminal legal system.

Barriers Due to Increasingly Unaffordable Housing

The lack of affordable housing is also another barrier for Americans across the country, including the recovery community. Long waitlists are commonly experienced by anyone seeking affordable housing assistance, but low-income people with substance use disorders often face additional barriers to affordable housing. According to 2022 data cited by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), median rents in the United States have risen above $2,000 for the first time in history. In addition, research shows that current hourly wages put rental prices out of reach for most households.

Barriers Due to NIMBYism

Access to recovery housing can also be difficult due, in part, to NIMBYism. The term NIMBY (or “Not in My Backyard”) describes folks who oppose the location of something considered undesirable – in this case, recovery housing – in one’s neighborhood. The ADAMHS Board of Cuyahoga County defines recovery housing as “a safe and healthy living environment that promotes abstinence from alcohol and other drugs and enhances participation and retention in traditional clinical treatment. Residents benefit from peer support and accountability, and gain valuable relapse prevention, case management and employment skills training as they transition to living independently and productively in the community.” Despite the profound benefits of recovery housing, a number of myths exist, contributing to the perpetuation of NIMBYism. In a presentation on Best Practices for Addressing N.I.M.B.Y., Ohio Recovery Housing provided some important myth-busting information. See the graphic below to learn more about common myths – and the facts – surrounding recovery housing.

Graphic from Best Practices for Addressing N.I.M.B.Y. (Not In My Backyard), by Ohio Recovery Housing­­

The Right to Fair Housing

People in recovery from substance use disorders are protected from housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, which prohibits discrimination based on disability. This includes additional protections, such as reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications. Both public and private landlords are required to act in alignment with fair housing law, granting accommodations and modifications as needed, and treating applicants and residents fairly and equitably.

In addition to more traditional types of housing, recovery housing providers also have a responsibility to comply with the Fair Housing Act. Because alcoholism and past drug use are considered disabilities under fair housing law, residents of recovery housing have the right to request reasonable accommodations or modifications to allow them equal access and opportunities Take, for example, a person who is undergoing a medication-assisted treatment plan, while applying to live in a sober-living house with a rule against using any medications in the recovery process. Since the medication prescribed to the resident is necessary in connection to their disability, that resident could request a reasonable accommodation in order to receive permission from the housing provider to continue with their treatment plan, while living at the property.

Getting Help

Not only does it take a great deal of courage to seek help for substance use disorder, but it can also be difficult to know where to start. Folks living in Northeast Ohio may consider using the following list as a starting point for connecting with community resources that can help in the journey to recovery and stability:

Community resource referrals:

Addiction and mental health services:

Fair housing assistance:

* Resources available nationwide

Getting the help that you need is the first step to living a healthier, more stable life. No matter where you live, housing, mental health, and recovery advocates are out there, ready to help you thrive. In addition to helping the recovery community address their immediate needs, advocates – like our team at The Fair Housing Center – are also working to address deep-seated systemic barriers that stand in the way of a better life for millions of Americans. If you are on the fence about getting help, consider the encouraging words of Monica, a former client of The Fair Housing Center, who sought out our help when she was experiencing housing discrimination:

There is no shame in reaching out to people that may be able to be your advocate. They care about you. They care about helping you, and that’s the bottom line. Everybody needs help sometimes.

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