What happens if someone uses again

This is the question people are most afraid to ask before they move in, so it should be answered before they have to. What happens if someone in the house uses again?

Different houses handle this very differently, and the answer tells you an enormous amount about how a place is run. Some ask the person to leave the same day. Some have a process. Some talk about second chances and have nothing written down, which in practice means it is decided by whoever is on shift.

Smart Step's own written response is {{RETURN-TO-USE RESPONSE}}, and the response to a positive screen is {{RESPONSE TO A POSITIVE SCREEN}}. Ask for both in writing before you sign anything — including from us.

• Is the response written down, and can I read it before I move in?
• Who decides — one person, or a process?
• If I have to leave, how much notice do I get, and does anybody help me find somewhere?
• Does telling you myself lead to a different outcome than being found out?
• What happens to money I have already paid?

It is not moral disapproval. Everybody else in the building is doing something difficult, and the environment is the thing they are relying on. A house that has no line is not being compassionate to the other eight people living in it.

That is a real tension and it is worth saying out loud rather than pretending it resolves neatly. The best a house can do is be clear in advance, apply the same rule to everyone, and treat the person leaving as a person.

Tell someone tonight. It is the harder call and it is the one that leaves the most options open. If there is nobody in the house you can say it to, that is worth knowing about the house — and the crisis lines below answer at any hour.

If tonight is the night, these lines answer at any hour.