National Association of Recovery Residences (NARR) Standards

In 2011, NARR made history by establishing a national standard for recovery residences.

This standard defines the spectrum of recovery oriented housing and services and distinguishes four different types, which are known as “levels” or “levels of support.”

Chart showing NARR's four levels of service with four ascending arrows labeled I to IV. Level I focuses on alcohol and drug free living environments, Level II on social model recovery support, Level III on recovery support services and life skills development, and Level IV on clinical services.

The standard was developed through a strength-based and collaborative approach that solicited input from all major regional and national recovery housing organizations. Guidance for the standard was also received from recovery residence providers (some with decades of experience) from across the nation representing all four levels of support and nationally recognized recovery support stakeholders.

NARR released the second version of the standard in October 2015, and in 2018 released Version 3.0, the current version. You can download them below.

The compendium provides more explicit guidance to providers, including metrics for evaluating the peer support components of a residence’s recovery environment.

Click to view and download these NARR resource files as pdfs:

Purple background with white text reading "National Association Recovery Residences (NARR) Standards"
Cover slide with purple background and white text that reads 'NARR Standards Compendium'.
Cover page with purple background and the title 'Code of Ethics' in large, bold, purple text.