I am a housing professional working in a poverty-stricken area of the state that is highly affected by substance use. Oxford houses are some of the only ways that folks with high barriers are able to access housing in our current climate. There just aren't many other options. Certification is now required in Virginia. A house that cannot be certified cannot operate. Virginia currently has 186 Oxford Houses that would have to close if these regulations are approved as written. Introducing these new restrictions and shuttering our current Oxford houses would have radically awful results on our already-climbing rates of homelessness and SUD. 

Oxford Houses are widely recognized as the gold standard of evidence-based recovery housing. It is the only recovery housing model ever accepted to SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. The state is about to write rules that leave out the model with the best results.

Peers running these places is what makes it different! Please consider that. Oxford houses are not businesses and should not be treated as such.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING THE STATE TO DO
1. Change the rules that require paid staff so self-governing houses can follow them.
2. Say clearly whether the members of an Oxford House are considered the "operator," because many of the rules apply to the operator.
3. Stop assuming that every recovery home is a commercial business. Don't require business insurance or State Corporation Commission registration from homes that are unincorporated associations.