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A halfway house is a drug rehabilitation or sex offender center, where drug users or sex offenders (or convicted felons let out on day parole) are allowed to move more freely than in a prison but are still monitored by staff and/or law enforcement. There is often opposition from neighborhoods where halfway houses attempt to locate.
In the United Kingdom, the corresponding institution is known as a "bail hostel" [1], and "halfway house" usually refers instead to a place where victims of child abuse, orphans or teenage runaways can stay. The latter are often run by the Church of England, other churches, charities, and community groups.