Any person, nonprofit organization, or business entity seeking to operate a certified recovery residence under this chapter shall for each location (i) meet the qualifications, policies, and practices established by a professional certification program according to nationally recognized recovery housing standards. 

Please provide a copy of the "qualifications, policies, and practices Virginia will use for certification consideration. 

Thanks! 

Could you better define clinical services that can not be provided in these homes,would this eliminate any recovery home that has a liscensed social worker or drug counclelor in the home.What about medicaid funded homes ? Some outpatient programs have recovery residences.

Also what is the criterea for application,what are the application questions to be certified ,who decides the questions ?

You should add CAPRSS to list of accrediting body at least those member are all ready nationaly accredited.

Thank you DBHDS! It his high time for the State to get a handle of the growing problem of Recovery Reidences who do not actually have the peers best interest in mind and who are not certified or recognized by any accrediting agency. Pepole who are actively trying to recover are being used like pawns in sone instances and it is imperative that Virginia not become like Florida. Having standards will assure that all Recovery Residences in Virgina are operating  with the same goal in mind: recovery! Both VARR and Oxford House are good choices.

I believe it is important to have wording that clarifies the recovery home is in fact a sober living environment and not a substance abuse treatment program.  Too often it is presented to individuals, attorneys, and the courts that a person is entering a treatment program, when in fact it is a recovery residence, not an inpatient treatment facility.  I'm hopeful this legislation might limit the number of recovery residences that are opening up on what seems like a monthly basis.

Recovery houses offer an essential service to people in recovery from Substance Use Disorder.  Lives are literally at stake.  This law appears to be written to stigmatize people suffering from Substance Use Disorder.  Why were these two accrediting organizations chosen?  What is the criteria for certification (what questions are on the application, who will review it, who makes the final decision, is there an appeal process)?  This appears to open the door to restrict a vitally necessary resource for those in recovery instead of ensuring that there are as many resources necessary to battle this disease.

I would welcome some oversight- it’s important for authenticity to avoid the bureaucratizing at all cost. Reimbursement of the providers doing the right thing over the shady ones. We cannot let what’s happened in other states happen in Virginia.