This article contains one update. Since 2021, the state of Virginia has relied on a group of mostly Metro Richmond-based recovery house owners and operators to fairly distribute millions of taxpayer dollars to recovery house operators throughout the state. Organized as the Virginia Association of Recovery Residences (VARR), that group promised to promote equitable access […]
For sober home residents, a relapse can mean eviction or jail. But what happens when operators return to using?
VARR leaders funneled large sums of taxpayer money to their own for-profit companies, while smaller organizations struggled to stay afloat.
River City Comprehensive Counseling, True Recovery, and the WAR Foundation are accused of exploiting sober home residents for Medicaid revenue.
Amid growing national attention to the sober home industry’s predatory underbelly, Virginia delegated oversight to a small group of Richmonders with financial stakes in the industry.