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Rights & responsibilities

What you can expect from Smart Step, what Smart Step asks of you, and how to raise it when something is not right.

House standards

Plain language, not legal advice

This page is a plain-language summary written so it is easy to read. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace your occupancy agreement or the advice of a lawyer. If you need legal help, ask us and we will point you toward local legal aid — {{LEGAL AID REFERRAL}}.

What you can expect from us

  • A safe home, free of violence, harassment and intimidation — from staff and from housemates alike.
  • The house standards in writing, before you agree to them, in language you can actually read.
  • To be told what your weekly program fee covers and what is due when.
  • Privacy. We do not share information about you without your written permission, except where the law requires it.
  • To be treated as an adult and a neighbor, not as a case to be managed.
  • To raise a concern, or to say no to something, without it being held against you.
  • Reasonable notice and a clear process if your stay is going to end.

What we ask of you

  • Keep to the house standards you agreed to.
  • Pay your weekly program fee, and talk to your house manager early if that is going to be hard.
  • Keep the home safe: no violence, no threats, no weapons.
  • Respect other people's space, property, privacy and sleep.
  • Take your share of the chores and show up for house meetings.
  • Be honest with staff and housemates, including when things are going badly.
  • Do not share other residents' information outside the house. Everyone's privacy depends on everyone.

Fair housing

Federal fair housing protections make it unlawful to discriminate in housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status or disability. Those protections apply to recovery housing, and they apply to us.

People in recovery are often covered by disability protections. Some state and local laws add further protected groups. If you believe you have been treated unfairly, you can raise it with us and you can also go outside Smart Step — {{FAIR HOUSING COMPLAINT REFERRAL}}.

Where your income comes from

Many people arriving in recovery housing are paid through a voucher, a benefit, a support program, wages, family help, or some mix of all of them. In a number of states and cities it is unlawful to turn someone away simply because of the source of their lawful income. These protections vary a lot from place to place — {{STATE AND LOCAL SOURCE-OF-INCOME PROTECTIONS}}.

Smart Step does not treat you differently because of where your lawful income comes from.

Asking for a reasonable accommodation

If a disability or a health condition makes part of the house standards hard to meet, you can ask for a reasonable accommodation — a change to a rule, a practice or the home itself, so that you have a fair chance to live here successfully.

What it can look like

A ground-floor bed. A schedule change so you can keep a standing appointment. A support animal. House papers in large print or read aloud. A different chore when one is not physically possible.

How to ask

Ask your house manager, out loud or in writing. If you would rather not go to the house manager, ask Smart Step directly — {{ACCOMMODATION REQUEST CONTACT}}.

What happens next

We talk it through with you. If the need is not obvious, we may ask for something in writing from a prescriber or provider confirming the need — not your diagnosis or your records. You get an answer — {{ACCOMMODATION RESPONSE TIME}}.

If the answer is no

We tell you why, and we look with you for another way to meet the same need. You can also use the grievance process below.

Your privacy

Records about substance use carry strong federal privacy protections. In practice that means we do not confirm that you live here, or share anything about how you are doing, unless you have signed a release saying who may be told and what they may be told. You can limit a release, and you can cancel one.

There are narrow exceptions where the law requires disclosure — for example a medical emergency or a court order. If that ever happens, you will be told.

Raising a concern

You will not lose your bed, your standing or your privileges for raising a concern in good faith. That is not a courtesy; it is the rule.

  • Start with your house manager. Most things end here.
  • If it is not resolved, or the concern is about the house manager, bring it to Smart Step — {{GRIEVANCE CONTACT}}. Put it in writing if you can; if writing is hard, ask someone to help you or tell us out loud.
  • You get a response — {{GRIEVANCE RESPONSE TIME}}. If you disagree with the outcome, you can ask for it to be looked at again — {{GRIEVANCE APPEAL STEP}}.
  • You can also take a complaint outside Smart Step at any point — {{EXTERNAL COMPLAINT OPTIONS}}. You do not have to finish our process first.

No retaliation

Nobody at Smart Step may punish you, single you out, move you, add requirements, or ask you to leave because you raised a concern, asked for an accommodation, filed a complaint, or helped someone else do any of those things. If it happens, report it — that is itself something we act on.

If your stay ends

Your agreement with Smart Step is an occupancy agreement for a bed in a shared recovery residence. The reasons a stay can end, the notice you get, and how you collect your belongings are set out in the agreement you sign — {{OCCUPANCY AGREEMENT EXIT TERMS}}.

Whatever the reason, we will not put you out with nowhere to go without trying first to connect you with somewhere safe. Ask, and keep asking.

Need help right now?

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