A group home is a private residence

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

 designed or converted to serve as a non-secure

Secure

Secure may refer to:* Security, being protected against danger or loss** Securitate , the secret service of Communist Romania* Security , e.g. secured loans...

 home for unrelated persons who share a common characteristic.

Types of group homes

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the term most often refers to homes designed for those in need of social assistance, and who are usually deemed incapable of living alone or without proper supervision. Prior to the 1970s, this function was served by institutions, asylums, poorhouse

Poorhouse

A poorhouse or workhouse was a government-run facility in the past for the support and housing of dependent or needy persons, typically run by a local government entity such as a county or municipality....

s, and orphanage

Orphanage

An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...

s.

People who live in such a group home may be developmentally disabled

Developmental disability

Developmental disability is a term used in the United States and Canada to describe lifelong disabilities attributable to mental or physical impairments, manifested prior to age 18. It is not synonymous with "developmental delay" which is often a consequence of a temporary illness or trauma during...

, recovering from alcohol or drug addiction

Substance dependence

The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...

, abused or neglected youths, youths with behavioral or emotional problems, and/or youths with criminal record

Criminal record

A criminal record is a record of a person's criminal history, generally used by potential employers, lenders etc. to assess his or her trustworthiness. The information included in a criminal record varies between countries and even between jurisdictions within a country...

s. A group home differs from a halfway house

Halfway house

The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...

 in that it is not restricted to recovering addicts or convicted criminals, and also in that residents usually are encouraged or required to take an active role in the maintenance of the household, such as by performing chores or helping to manage a budget. In most countries, people can still vote

Suffrage

Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...

 and attend university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 while in a group home.

There are typically from 3 to 16 residents, as well as a resident manager or service staff. Residents may have their own room or share rooms, and share facilities such as laundry, bathroom

Bathroom

A bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....

, kitchen and common living areas. The opening of group homes in neighborhoods is occasionally opposed by residents, who fear that it will lead to a rise in crime and/or a drop in property values.

A group home can also refer to family homes in which children and youth of the foster care

Foster care

Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....

 system are placed until foster families are found for them. Group homes for seniors might also be found under Residential Care Home, Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, or Assisted Living Facility.

Perhaps the largest group of group homes falls under the heading of residential care homes for seniors. Not to be confused with any other types of homes, group homes for seniors meet the general definition of a "group home": a special group of individuals living in a family or community setting generally with the aid of a caregiver.

Cost of group homes

Generally, these homes are low cost but very cost effective.

Residential care homes, run by the government, need not be low cost and/or low quality as many might initially guess. More expensive residential care homes now exist to offer a family style, high quality, care option to the next class of senior care which is Assisted Living Facilities. These homes are based on increasing need for assistance and decreasing independence. There are various levels of residential care homes for seniors, "Independent Living", "Assisted Living With no Assistance" (the most common use of "assisted living" involves little or no assistance, living at home with minimal amounts of home care), "Assisted Living with Assistance", and "Assisted Living - Memory Care". Memory care is for those with various degrees of dementia

Dementia

Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...

and generally are more expensive to reflect the higher level of care they provide.