Recovery Community Centers (RCCs) are peer-operated centers that provide a range of recovery support services for individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs). RCCs represent a new approach to providing addiction recovery services, complementing formal treatment and mutual-help organizations (MHOs). RCCs are located within communities and provide a variety of services, including recovery coaching, relapse prevention skills-building and mutual-help groups. In addition, RCCs often provide resources that clinical care does not provide, including employment and educational programs, housing resources, and other support programs for people in or seeking recovery. Given the breadth of services they provide, RCCs serve as recovery hubs facilitating “one-stop shopping” in the accumulation of recovery capital.
Despite the increasing popularity of RCCs, relatively little is known about who uses RCCs, what services they most commonly use, and how use of RCCs relates to improvements in functioning and quality of life. Recent research from John F. Kelly, PhD, Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute, Bettina Hoeppner, PhD, Founder and Director of the Health Through Flourishing Program in the MGH Department of Psychiatry, and their colleagues from within and beyond MGH, including community partners from Faces & Voices of Recovery and the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, highlight the services provided by RCCs and their ability to reach a diverse population with severe substance use disorders and limited financial resources.
What Services to RCCs Provide? Who Uses RCCs?
The first nationwide survey of RCCs published by Hoeppner and colleagues contacted 198 verified RCCs and received completed questionnaires from 122 (62%). The survey highlighted the remarkable growth and investment in RCCs in the United States; more than half of the RCCs included in the survey had opened within the past 5 years. While there has been considerable growth, the researchers note that the number of RCCs is small compared to the number of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration-certified opioid treatment programs (about 1800) and other substance use treatment settings (14,000).
The number of individuals seeking recovery support at an RCC ranged widely, with a median of 125 individuals served in a given month (range 4–1500). RCCs provided addiction-specific services, such as mutual-help group meetings of different varieties, recovery coaching, and opioid and harm reduction services. RCCs also provided, although less uniformly, assistance with basic needs and social services, technology access, and assistance with health behaviors. The majority of RCCs provided basic needs assistance (72.1%) and employment assistance (72.1%); fewer provided housing (63.9%) and education assistance (53.3%).
Although viewed by staff as highly important, RCCs less frequently offered medication-assisted treatment support (43%) and overdose reversal training (57%). Nonetheless, recovery community centers created a welcoming environment for those taking medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs). RCC staff engaged members in conversations about MOUDs (85.2%) and provided direct support for those taking MOUDs (77.0%).
In the nationwide survey, the researchers found that RCCs successfully engaged diverse populations, including racial/ethnic minorities (20.8% Hispanic, 22.5% Black) and young adults (23.5% under 25 years old). RCCs tend to be located in more urban areas with higher proportions of Black residents compared to national averages. Given that Black Americans are disproportionately affected by opioid-related overdose deaths and that young adults have the highest rates of untreated SUD, the ability of RCCs to reach these target groups provides a tremendous opportunity.
Benefits of RCC Participation
A 2020 study of RCC participants found that greater engagement with RCCs (measured by years attending, days attended, and hours per visit) was associated with increased recovery capital, which in turn was linked to better quality of life, higher self-esteem, and lower psychological distress. While the cross-sectional design precluded causal inferences, the findings suggest RCCs may facilitate the accrual of recovery capital and improve well-being.
Importantly, RCCs also provide support for medication assisted therapy. While many RCCs do not offer medication-assisted treatment, 85.2% of RCCs engaged members in conversations about MOUD, 77.0% provided direct support for taking MOUD, and 36.1% sought closer collaboration with prescribers.
Potential Mechanisms and Future Research
RCCs are thought to increase recovery capital by providing easy access to social support, employment and educational resources, recovery coaching, and other services that address the broader psychosocial needs of individuals in recovery, all under the same roof. Future longitudinal research is needed to examine how RCCs affect risk for relapse over time.
The authors emphasize that regional variations in membership, service needs/utilization, and overall effects of RCCs should also be explored, given the significant geographic differences in SUDs, services, and psychosocial supports across the United States.
Recent studies highlight the potential benefits of RCCs in supporting long-term recovery, particularly for individuals with limited resources. By offering a range of peer-based services and facilitating the accrual of recovery capital, RCCs may play a valuable role in the continuum of care for SUDs. Importantly, RCCs have the ability to reach populations historically underserved by formal treatment settings and are particularly successful in engaging Black Americans and young adults.
Research on recovery community centers is in its very early stages. If you would like to learn more and/or be part of the conversations that shape new research projects in this space, check out the online monthly seminar series on advancing the science on RCCs, hosted by the MGH Health through Flourishing team, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This seminar series is open to the public, and brings together participants from diverse fields, including RCC directors, staff, participants, and addiction scientists, clinicians, and policy makers.
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Recovery community centers: Is participation in these newer recovery support services associated with better functioning and quality of life? (Recovery Research Institute)
Recovery Community Centers (Recovery Research Institute)
Bernier LB, Foley JD, Salomaa AC, Scheer JR, Kelly J, Hoeppner B, Batchelder AW. Examining sexual minority engagement in recovery community centers. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2024 Jun;161:209340.
Hoeppner BB, Simpson HV, Weerts C, Riggs MJ, Williamson AC, Finley-Abboud D, Hoffman LA, Rutherford PX, McCarthy P, Ojeda J, Mericle AA, Rao V, Bergman BG, Dankwah AB, Kelly JF. A Nationwide Survey Study of Recovery Community Centers Supporting People in Recovery From Substance Use Disorder. J Addict Med. 2024 Mar 1.
Hoeppner B, Williamson A, Simpson H, Finley-Abboud D, Weerts C, Riggs MJ, Hoeppner S (2025). How to measure the effectiveness of recovery community centers (RCCs): Insights gained from a nationwide survey of directors of RCCs. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1532812.
Hoeppner B, Williamson A, Nicoll C, Abboud D, Futter A, Joseph J, Hoeppner S (2025). The linkage between opioid treatment programs (OTPs) and recovery community centers (RCCs): Results of a survey of OTP directors. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1532374.
DeCristofaro D, Futter A, Williamson A, Hoeppner SS, Hoffman LA, Riggs MJ, Hoeppner BB (2025). Comparing recovery community centers (RCCs) serving Black, Hispanic/Latino, and other communities: An exploratory secondary data analysis of a nationwide survey of RCC directors. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1532488.
Kelly JF, Stout RL, Jason LA, Fallah-Sohy N, Hoffman LA, Hoeppner BB (2020). OneStop Shopping for Recovery: An Investigation of Participant Characteristics and Benefits Derived From U.S. Recovery Community Centers. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 44(3), 711–721.
Bettina Hoeppner, PhD, MS is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School, the Director of the Health Through Flourishing Program within the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry, and core faculty of the Health Promotion and Resiliency Intervention Research (HPRIR) Center, a joint initiative between the MGH Mongan Institute and the MGH Department of Psychiatry to harness the strengths of interdisciplinary behavioral science delivery research. By training, she is an experimental psychologist focusing on substance use disorder research. The overarching goal of her research is to improve access to care for persons seeking to overcome problematic substance use.”
John Kelly, PhD ABPP is the Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute at MGH and the Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kelly is a former President of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Society of Addiction Psychology, a founding member and inaugural President of the American Board of Addiction Psychology, a Fellow of the APA, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has served as a consultant to U.S. federal agencies and non-federal institutions, as well as foreign governments, the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Dr. Kelly has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, chapters, and books in the field of addiction medicine, and was an author on the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health.
