It is well integrated into the recovery community: intensive outpatient and counselling in house, plus at least one NA/AA meeting a day - they attend about 4-6 different groups each week. The residential component, living in a structured living environment in the suburbs of a wealthy county, is excellent. Clients move into a nice house, keep it clean, cook their own meals, bond, re-learn activities of daily living. It's good stuff. It's not suited for people with severe mental illnesses. It would also benefit from having more clients from more places. Still, it's the best program I've seen so far. Clients get a safe place to live and recover without distractions for 2-3 months, then are asked to get a job and live in a safe environment for a few more months. They learn how to live, then how to live with money in their pockets, all while having the shelter of a structured living environment with 24 hour peer support. Everyone on the treatment staff - everyone- is in recovery in a 12 step program. Every member of peer support has lived in and successfully graduated from a structured living environment (most at a well known group of self-run recovery houses). When clients are ready to leave, they are already enmeshed in a recovery network that help them with the next step - be it private housing or a fellowship house. MRC is new, but it has incredibly high retention and success rates so far.
