Pros and Cons of a Halfway House

Pros and Cons of a Halfway House

A fully operational halfway house presents a lot of pros and cons of a halfway house to nearby residents that can be quantified both in financial and social terms. To first illustrate how these homes can change the real estate market in their vicinity, property value is a calculated estimation of what land or a structure is financially worth. This calculation is based off of several factors including location, physical distinctiveness of the terrain and buildings, as well as how the climate of the real estate market is at the particular time. Though, when it comes to the point of buying a house, especially families that include children, the question arises nearly every time without fail, about how the neighborhood and community of such a house happens to be. No one has bought a home without this as a major concern to them. If a halfway house is located in the vicinity then there is going to be a sense of insecurity among potential residents. These homes provide a place to live for grown men or women that have or are struggling with major problems including drug abuse, or mental illnesses. This alone is enough to deter prospective home owners, thereby worsening the climate of the real estate market as such. With less interested buyers the property value declines rapidly, and a financial loss is recognized by those already established in the area and by the community at large from the lost taxes that would have been paid for by the prospective homeowner.

In regards to these the pros and cons of a halfway house, do the pros outweigh the cons? If we analyze a hypothetical situation in which a halfway house is being occupied by recovering drug addicts. How can we be certain that the home is going to be monitored properly? In essence, residents of the facilities are not always going to be under great supervision. Imagine that a resident decides they no longer want to be there and they escape with very little effort, a task not as easy to do in a judicial care system. These people become dangerous and a hazard to others due to their extreme behavior as they seek out drugs, are on a buzz, or even trying to flee capture. Reported in NJToday, New Jersey’s oldest weekly periodical, there were 201 escapes by halfway house residents between January 2008 and March 2009. This is an average of one escape every two days over the fifteen month period. These escapes were affiliated with seven out of the twenty five privately ran halfway houses in Trenton, New Jersey. A problem such as these proves the instability of halfway houses in view of their management.