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Smart Step
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For public agencies and system partners

Smart Step Inc. is a 501(c)(3) recovery housing operator. This page is for the people who have to place someone this week and account for it later: agency staff, housing authorities, Continuums of Care, accountability courts, probation and parole.

Refer someoneSet up a referral agreement

Where we fit in the local system

Recovery housing is a specific rung, and it is often the missing one. It is not emergency shelter, not permanent supportive housing, and not a recovery program. It is a structured, alcohol- and drug-free home with written standards, peer accountability, and a documented record — for the stretch after a program ends and before independent housing is realistic.

Smart Step operates recovery residences and works on preserving affordable housing, so the two problems are addressed together: a person needs a bed now, and the community needs the home to still be affordable in five years.

What we are

A housing and peer support operator with written house standards, documented intake criteria, drug screening on a written protocol, incident logging, a grievance process, and consent-gated reporting.

What we are not

Not a medical provider. We do not provide medical care, diagnose, prescribe, or run detox. We do not replace a person's recovery program, case manager, or probation officer — we are the housing under them.

Who refers to us

Accountability courts, probation and parole, recovery programs, agency case managers, hospitals and reentry staff, families, and people referring themselves. One intake path for all of them.

What you get back

A named contact, real openings rather than a waitlist guess, and compliance documentation produced as a by-product of running the home rather than assembled after the fact.

Data and reporting posture

Recovery status is protected information and we treat it that way by default. Our posture, stated plainly so you can hold us to it:

  • Consent first, always. Nothing about a resident reaches a coordinator, agency, or court without an active, dated, written release from that resident. A release can be revoked, and revoking it stops the flow.
  • Minimum necessary. A coordinator sees the residents they are responsible for and the fields their role requires — not a roster, not a database.
  • Every access is logged. Each read of a resident record through the coordinator portal writes to an audit log with who, what, and when. We can produce that log.
  • 42 CFR Part 2 discipline as the operating standard, implemented in the software rather than left to staff memory.
  • No bulk exports without an agreement. Aggregate or de-identified reporting to a public partner happens under a written data-sharing agreement that names the fields, the cadence, and the purpose.
  • Immediate notification where consent covers it. An assigned coordinator is notified of a violation when it happens, not at the end of the month.
  • Fair housing and disability law govern intake. Criteria are written down, neutral, and applied identically — and the decision is documented either way.

System participation and agreements

We will not imply participation in a system we have not joined or an agreement we have not signed.

  • HMIS / CoC data participation: {{HMIS PARTICIPATION STATUS}}
  • Coordinated entry relationship: {{COORDINATED ENTRY STATUS}}
  • Recovery residence certification: {{CERTIFICATION BODY, STATUS AND LEVEL}}
  • Executed agreements with public agencies: {{EXECUTED MOUs AND CONTRACTS}}

Shared outcomes — what we measure

Below is our measurement framework, not our results. We collect these from the day a person is referred, and we will report them to a partner agency at an agreed cadence under an agreed scope. What follows is how each figure is defined, so that when we do report one you can already tell what it counts.

  • Time from referral to placement. Clock starts when the referral reaches us, not when we accept it — the wait a referring agency actually experiences.
  • Length of stay. Median and distribution rather than an average, so a single long stay cannot stand in for a typical one.
  • Still housed at 6 and 12 months. Measured from move-in, counting stable housing elsewhere as housed. People we cannot reach stay in the denominator.
  • Planned versus unplanned exits. Counted separately, with the recorded reason for each. Combining them would hide the number that matters to you.
  • Destination at exit. Where the person went, reported alongside how many exits we could not follow up on — an unknown destination is reported as unknown, not dropped.
  • Employment or verified income at 90 days. Verified rather than self-reported, on the same window for every resident.
  • Drug screening completion. Screens collected against screens the schedule called for. Selection is randomised by the system, which records the pool, who was drawn, and who was held out and why.
  • Court and appointment compliance. Only for residents under supervision who hold an active signed release; everyone else is excluded and the exclusion is stated with the figure.
  • Return to housing after an unplanned exit. How many people come back and how long it took — reported as an outcome in its own right rather than folded into retention.
  • Grievances filed and resolved. Volume, category and time to resolution, reported whether or not the numbers reflect well on us.

Two commitments about the method. First, we report the denominator, not just the flattering numerator — including people we lost contact with. Second, when we publish a rate we publish how it was calculated in the same place, so you can check it rather than take it.

Working with us

  • Name a point of contact on your side; we name one on ours.
  • Agree the referral path, the consent form you use, and who signs it.
  • Agree the reporting scope and cadence in writing before any data moves.
  • Tell us your escalation expectations — what you want to hear about within the hour versus in a weekly summary.
  • Review us. Ask for the audit log, ask for the grievance record, ask how the last three unplanned exits were handled.

If you are ready to place someone now, the referral form asks you to confirm you hold a signed release before it collects anything about the person.

Common questions

What is your current capacity?
Openings change weekly, so a static page is the wrong place for it. Current capacity: {{CURRENT CAPACITY AND OPENINGS}}. Contact us for live availability, or ask about coordinator access to the availability view.
Where do you operate?
{{SERVICE AREA — COUNTIES AND STATE}}. We will tell you plainly if a placement in your area is not realistic today.
Do you accept residents on medication-assisted recovery?
Yes. Our MAT-supportive policy is on file. No one is excluded from a home for taking a lawfully prescribed medication.
Can a coordinator see a resident's record directly?
Yes, where an active, dated written release covers it — scoped to the residents that coordinator is responsible for, and with every access written to an audit log.
What does a resident pay, and does the agency pay anything?
Program fees are written and itemized before move-in: $250 per week, billed weekly, with a one-time $150 move-in fee. Any agency-funded or contract arrangement: {{PUBLIC FUNDING AND CONTRACT ARRANGEMENTS}}.
Are you certified or accredited?
Certification is an audited process and we will not imply one we do not hold. Status: {{CERTIFICATION BODY, STATUS AND LEVEL}}. Ask us and we will tell you exactly where we are in it.
Can we get outcome data for our reporting?
Yes, under a written data-sharing agreement that names the fields, cadence, and purpose. What we can produce today is the framework above plus the underlying records for consented residents; published rates come when the sample supports them.

Need help right now?

If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. More crisis resources.