CHICAGO — The nation’s epidemic of addiction to painkillers and heroin is fueling runaway demand for a once-obscure form of housing known as ‘‘sober homes,’’ where recovering addicts live together in a supervised, substance-free setting to ease their transition back to independence.
The facilities are rarely run by credentialed professionals and are only lightly regulated — a situation that has prompted at least five states to pass or consider legislation to impose rules on how they operate. Some homes have been accused of tolerating drug use and participating in insurance fraud.
‘‘The ones that are good are fantastic,’’ said Pam Rodriguez, chief executive of Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, an Illinois nonprofit working to reduce prison time for nonviolent drug offenders. But the rapidly expanding field also includes ‘‘people exploiting the vulnerability of the population and their desperation to find a safe place to live,’’ she said.
Sober homes are based on an idea that has been around since at least the 1970s, when many communities had halfway houses — group homes reserved for the most desperate alcoholics with nowhere else to turn.
These new houses cater increasingly to people who have become addicted to opiates. In recent years, the epidemic has touched more families who can afford to pay for care.
The facilities range from former single-family houses in residential neighborhoods to apartment complexes. The residents include people recently released from prison or residential treatment and others who see a counselor regularly or get no treatment. They must observe rules and curfews and participate in 12-step meetings.
The homes are often run by former drug users who have remained clean after rehabilitation, rather than by doctors or therapists. Residents typically pay rent ranging from $75 to $150 per week.
There is no nationwide estimate on the number of sober homes, but experts say the growth is apparent.
For instance, Prescott, Ariz., a city of 40,000, has 169 homes. That’s one home for every 237 people, with more on the way.
‘‘We have houses opening up two or three a week here,’’ said Mary Beth Hrin, who supports a bill to allow cities to regulate the homes.
One large network of homes, Oxford House, now has almost 2,000 houses in about 500 cities, up 20 percent in the last three years.
Families are seeking guidance in choosing a home and pressing for accountability for the money they spend there.
Some of the laws under consideration would require sober homes to be inspected, certified, and subject to ethical codes and consumer protections.
After a scam involving insurance claims for sober home residents, the Florida Legislature last year adopted a law effectively requiring certification of homes that receive patients from licensed rehab centers.
Massachusetts recently set up a voluntary certification process, and bills are pending before lawmakers in Maryland and Arizona. Some proposals would require owners to undergo background checks, to refund money in some circumstances, and to make inspection reports available to consumers. In New Jersey, a law requires sober homes to notify a relative when a resident is evicted, unless the resident chooses to keep the matter private.
For now, most homes have little to no governmental oversight.
‘‘In most states, there is not a regulatory body because recovery residences aren’t considered treatment,’’ said Amy Mericle, a scientist at Alcohol Research Group, a California nonprofit that studies alcohol and drug addiction.
The best homes can increase abstinence and lower incarceration rates, according to the little research available.
‘‘It instilled back in me the plain and simple things — common sense, staying away from things that would get me back into the streets,’’ said James McDaniel, a recovering addict who moved into a Chicago sober home in 2010.
