I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2367 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter an agreement 

with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 

to conduct a study on the quality and effectiveness of covered recovery 

housing in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2021 

Mr. LEVIN of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

enter an agreement with the National Academies of 

Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study 

on the quality and effectiveness of covered recovery housing in the United States, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Studying Outcomes 

5 and Benchmarks for Effective Recovery Homes Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘SOBER Homes Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NAS STUDY AND REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary 

5 for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall enter into an 

6 arrangement with the National Academies of Sciences, 

7 Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study, which may 

8 include a literature review and case studies as appropriate, 

9 on— 

10 (1) the quality and effectiveness of recovery 

11 housing in the United States, including the avail12 ability in the United States of high-quality recovery 

13 housing and whether that availability meets the de14 mand for such housing in the United States; and 

15 (2) State, Tribal, and local regulation and over16 sight of recovery housing. 

17 (b) TOPICS.—The study under subsection (a) shall 

18 include a literature review of studies that— 

19 (1) examine the quality of, and effectiveness 

20 outcomes for, the types and characteristics of cov21 ered recovery housing programs listed in subsection 

22 (c); and 

23 (2) identify the research and data gaps that 

24 must be filled to better report on the quality of, and 

25 effectiveness outcomes related to, covered recovery 

26 housing. 


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1 (c) TYPE AND CHARACTERISTICS.—The types and 

2 characteristics of covered recovery housing programs re3 ferred to in subsection (b) consist of the following: 

4 (1) Nonprofit and for-profit covered recovery 

5 housing. 

6 (2) Private and public covered recovery housing. 

7 (3) Covered recovery housing programs that 

8 provide services to— 

9 (A) residents on a voluntary basis; and 

10 (B) residents pursuant to a judicial order. 

11 (4) Number of clients served, disaggregated to 

12 the extent possible by covered recovery housing serv13 ing— 

14 (A) 6 or fewer recovering residents; 

15 (B) 10 to 13 recovering residents; and 

16 (C) 18 or more recovering residents. 

17 (5) Bedroom occupancy in a house, 

18 disaggregated to the extent possible by— 

19 (A) single room occupancy; 

20 (B) 2 residents occupying 1 room; and 

21 (C) more than 2 residents occupying 1 

22 room. 

23 (6) Duration of services received by clients, 

24 disaggregated to the extent possible according to 

25 whether the services were— 


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1 (A) 30 days or fewer; 

2 (B) 31 to 90 days; 

3 (C) more than 90 days and fewer than 6 

4 months; or 

5 (D) 6 months or more. 

6 (7) Certification levels of staff. 

7 (8) Fraudulent and abusive practices by opera8 tors of covered recovery housing and inpatient and 

9 outpatient treatment facilities, both individually and 

10 in concert, including— 

11 (A) deceptive or misleading marketing 

12 practices, including— 

13 (i) inaccurate outcomes-based mar14 keting; and 

15 (ii) marketing based on non-evidence 

16 based practices; 

17 (B) illegal patient brokering; 

18 (C) third-party recruiters; 

19 (D) deceptive or misleading marketing 

20 practices of treatment facility and recovery 

21 housing online aggregators; and 

22 (E) the impact of such practices on health 

23 care costs and recovery rates. 


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1 (d) REPORT.—The arrangement under subsection (a) 

2 shall require, by not later than 12 months after the date 

3 of entering into the agreement— 

4 (1) completing the study under such subsection; 

5 and 

6 (2) making publicly available (including through 

7 publication on the internet) a report that contains— 

8 (A) the results of the study; 

9 (B) the National Academy’s recommenda10 tions for Federal, State, and local policies to 

11 promote the availability of high-quality recovery 

12 housing in the United States; 

13 (C) research and data gaps; 

14 (D) recommendations for recovery housing 

15 quality and effectiveness metrics; 

16 (E) recommended mechanisms to collect 

17 data on those metrics, including with respect to 

18 research and data gaps; and 

19 (F) a summary of allegations, assertions, 

20 or formal legal actions on the State and local 

21 levels by governments and nongovernmental or22 ganizations with respect to the opening and op23 eration of recovery housing. 

24 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 (1) The term ‘‘covered recovery housing’’ means 

2 recovery housing that utilizes compensated or volun3 teer onsite staff who are not health care profes4 sionals to support residents. 

5 (2) The term ‘‘effectiveness outcomes’’ may in6 clude decreased substance use, reduced probability of 

7 relapse or reoccurrence, lower rates of incarceration, 

8 higher income, increased employment, and improved 

9 family functioning. 

10 (3) The term ‘‘health care professional’’ means 

11 an individual who is licensed or otherwise authorized 

12 by the State to provide health care services. 

13 (4) The term ‘‘recovery housing’’ means a 

14 shared living environment that is or purports to 

15 be— 

16 (A) free from alcohol and use of nonpre17 scribed drugs; and 

18 (B) centered on connection to services that 

19 promote sustained recovery from substance use 

20 disorders. 

21 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

22 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

23 $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2022. 


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1 SEC. 3. FILLING RESEARCH AND DATA GAPS. 

2 Not later than 60 days after the completion of the 

3 study under section 5, the Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services shall enter into an agreement with an ap5 propriate entity to conduct such research as may be nec6 essary to fill the research and data gaps identified in re7 porting pursuant to such section. 

Æ 


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