This November marks a significant milestone for Harper House as we celebrate three years of supporting families to recover, reconnect, and rebuild their futures together.
Since opening our doors, more than 100 families have come to us seeking safety, stability, and hope. Their courage and the outcomes we have seen show just how powerful family-centred residential services can be.
Substance use affects far more than the individual. Its impact reaches partners, children, extended family members, and often stretches across generations. Trauma, domestic abuse, and disrupted relationships are common experiences among the parents we support. While most parents in our service are mothers, we also work with dads whenever it is safe and appropriate, ensuring the whole family’s needs are considered.
The past three years have given us a front-row seat to the transformative power of keeping families together during their recovery journey. Our data tells a compelling story:
- 79% of adults who completed treatment at Harper House remain engaged with our after-care team.
- 63% of families discharged stay together.
- Even among families who did not complete residential treatment, 27% continued with after-care, demonstrating their resilience, commitment to change, and belief in their family’s future.
These outcomes are not accidental they are the result of designing a service specifically for families. Harper House provides accommodation that meets the practical needs of parents and children, including dedicated children’s spaces and rooms large enough for family living. Our multidisciplinary team brings together expertise in substance use, parenting, child development, and education, ensuring support is holistic and responsive.
Our therapeutic model blends Phoenix Futures’ community-based approach with evidence-based parenting interventions and specialist child-focused support. While we follow a structured timetable, we build in flexibility to respond to each family’s unique situation. For example, many children join on a part-time basis to safely rebuild relationships with parents, something that has become increasingly common, with almost half of all children since January 2024 entering the service this way.
Every day at Harper House, we witness growth in trust, stability, and connection. The past three years have reinforced what we have long known family-centred rehabilitation changes lives. We are proud of the impact we have made so far and hope our model continues to inspire others to invest in services that keep families at the heart of recovery.
