Resident Application and Move-In Evaluation: Introduction

Take a moment to reflect on the journal exercise where you listed the key factors you thought were important to making the recovery home a safe and effective environment. Many of these factors are impacted by the resident evaluation and screening criteria the house uses to determine what residents are appropriate for residency.

It is critical to have a structured and documented process for evaluating residents who are moving into a recovery home. 

For example, a key factor of recovery housing is that residents support one another in their recovery. When recovery homes are evaluating prospective residents, it is important to take the time to ensure that all individuals moving into the home fully understand and are committed to supporting everyone in their recovery journeys.

Let us look at the importance of having a structured process for resident applications and evaluations, how to develop criteria for moving in that is clear and measurable, the minimum requirements for resident evaluation and how to create a written process for ensuring evaluation criteria are implemented consistently over time.