In the recovery community, we’ve long known that recovery is about far more than days of abstinence. Recovery dates matter, but they don’t tell the full story of a person’s health, stability, or progress. Recovery is multidimensional. It involves housing, employment, relationships, purpose, physical and mental health, and a person’s sense of belonging and hope.
In practice, creating one measure that captures the full scope of a person’s recovery has always been a challenge. Recovery touches every corner of someone’s life including health, housing, relationships, purpose, and access to resources. Pulling all of that into a single, meaningful metric is difficult. Traditional approaches often end up focusing on only one or two dimensions, leaving much of the picture unseen.
The Recovery Capital Index (RCI) helps resolve this challenge. It offers a comprehensive, validated way to measure the many interconnected aspects of recovery in one place, giving individuals and RCOs a deeper, more accurate understanding of both strengths and needs. Rather than defining success through a single metric, the RCI offers a holistic snapshot of a person’s social, cultural, physical, and personal capital. By looking at these interconnected domains, the RCI helps individuals, and the organizations supporting them, understand what’s going well and where additional support may be helpful.
Why Recovery Capital Matters
Recovery capital represents the building blocks of long-term wellness. For many individuals, successful recovery depends less on one moment of change and more on the network of supports around them. Strong recovery capital might look like:
- Stable and safe housing
- Supportive relationships
- Reliable transportation
- Access to education or employment
- Positive coping strategies
- Community connection
- A sense of hope and purpose
When these elements are strong, people are better positioned not only to maintain recovery but to thrive. When certain elements are lacking, the RCI can help illuminate those gaps early, before they become obstacles.
Helping Individuals Identify Areas of Support
For individuals, the Recovery Capital Index is a practical, empowering tool. Completing the assessment helps people reflect on all aspects of their life, not just their sobriety. Many describe the experience as a moment of clarity, finally seeing their strengths in one place and recognizing opportunities for growth.
The RCI can highlight themes such as:
- “I’m doing well with emotional wellness, but transportation is a barrier.”
- “I feel connected socially, but my finances are unstable.”
- “I have strong coping skills, but I need help navigating employment.”
This gives individuals and peer recovery coaches a shared foundation for planning next steps. It turns conversations into action and ensures support is tailored, person-centered, and focused on strengthening an individual’s whole recovery.
Giving RCOs a Clearer Picture of Their Impact
RCOs provide life-changing support every day, but traditional measures like attendance, engagement, or sobriety milestones don’t fully capture the depth of that impact. The RCI allows Recovery Community Organizations to:
- Track changes in recovery capital over time
- Demonstrate the effectiveness of peer services
- Understand which supports yield the strongest improvements
- Identify emerging needs in their community
- Strengthen funding proposals with quantitative outcomes
By moving beyond single-point measurements, RCOs can tell a richer, more accurate story about the progress of the people they serve. The data generated by the RCI makes visible what RCO staff already know: recovery grows through connection, community, and sustained support.
A Tool That Reflects the Reality of Recovery
The Recovery Capital Index aligns fully with the values of Recovery Community Organizations across Michigan: recovery is holistic, relational, dynamic, and deeply personal. It honors the full humanity of people seeking recovery and helps ensure supports are responsive, not just to today’s challenges but to long-term wellbeing.
As MARCO continues to elevate and support the statewide ecosystem of RCOs, tools like the RCI help us build a shared language around outcomes and impact. One that centers people, not just numbers.
Recovery is not only measured by a date. It’s measured by the strength of the foundation people build over time. And with the Recovery Capital Index, we have a way to measure, understand, and strengthen that foundation together.