Sunshine State Beams About Recovery Residences

The 2013-2014 General Appropriations Act (GAA) directed the Florida Department of Children and Families (Department) to submit a report on recovery residences to the Legislature by October 1, 2013

Referencing studies completed by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Hawaii, the report points out that recovery residences are not treatment providers.  Instead, they offer recovery oriented housing and support services to residents. It goes on to highlight that recovery residences have been a litigious issue in federal court, because the federal Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act protects the right of people in recovery to fair housing choice. This has frustrated local government officials from South Florida who have sought to illegally regulate sober homes due to Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) political pressure.