Virginia recovery housing bill tracker

2026 General Assembly Session

Senate Bill 270 / House Bill 931 | Oversight for recovery housing

SB270 (Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico) and HB931 (Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax County) are companion bills that continue prior legislative efforts to establish oversight of Virginia’s recovery housing industry.

Status: Passed, headed to Gov. Spanberger’s desk

To learn more:

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2025 SB838 Recovery Residences Workgroup

The SB838 workgroup was charged with developing recommendations to strengthen oversight and transparency in Virginia recovery housing, due to the General Assembly by Nov. 1, 2025.

>Click here for a dropdown list of workgroup objectives.

“Such work group shall develop credentialing guidelines to be implemented by the Department, including 

(a) a uniform set of certification criteria for all recovery residences; 

(b) protocols for the Department to define qualifications for indigent bed fees and payment and reimbursement to recovery residences for indigent bed fees; 

(c) protocols to ensure resident and patient choice in receiving treatment and that the recovery residence operator, the house manager, or anyone in leadership with the recovery residence is not determining the treatment received; 

(d) training and standards that recovery residence operators and house managers shall meet before becoming a certified recovery residence operator or a certified recovery house manager, including a verified period of participation in recovery; 

(e) a Residents’ Bill of Rights, including a mandatory compliance requirement with such Residents’ Bill of Rights by certified recovery residence operators and certified recovery house managers; 

(f) protocols for termination of residency; 

(g) uniform data collection for recovery residences with a transparent data platform; 

(h) establishment of a hotline for complaints involving or against recovery residences to facilitate investigations; 

(i) a process for investigation of complaints involving or against recovery residences to be conducted by the Department or the Department in coordination with the locality where the recovery residence is located and not the credentialing entity; 

(j) protocols for sanctions on recovery residences, including decertification when appropriate; 

(k) methods for localities to conduct fire, building, safety, and health inspections of recovery residences; and 

(l) other issues related to recovery residences and their operators as the work group shall deem appropriate.”

View the final report, published December 2025.

View my reporting on the workgroup’s progress.

To view meeting recordings and presentation materials, follow the links below. (Note: Audio quality for the in-person meetings is not ideal.)

2025 General Assembly Session

Senate Bill 838 | Oversight for recovery housing

Outcome: The General Assembly accepted Youngkin’s amendments. The new law took effect on July 1.

Patrons: Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico (Chief Patron), Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington County, Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico (later added as Chief Co-Patron), Del. David Owen, R-Goochland

Highlights: Creates a path toward improving oversight, transparency and resident rights in Virginia sober homes by 1) mandating state certification of all Virginia recovery residences and 2) establishing a workgroup under the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to improve the certification process

Jan. 24: The Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services adopted a substitute and advanced the bill in a 13 to 1 vote. The substitute allows the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) to issue six-month provisional certifications to operators who indicate their intent to get certified. I covered the significance of that change here.

Jan. 29: The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee approved the bill with an amendment. The proposed amendment brought the bill’s text into alignment with the concept VanValkenburg presented Jan. 24 to the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services (which gave all operators a six-month cushion to get certified).

Feb. 3: The bill passed the Senate in a 40-0 vote.

Feb. 11: The House Behavioral Health Subcommittee voted 8-0 to advance the bill.

Feb. 13: The House Health and Human Services Committee reported the bill with two amendments and referred it to the House Appropriations Committee (hearing date: Feb 14). The amendments 1) gave DBHDS the authority to extend provisional certifications up to three additional months and 2) gave the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal League the authority to appoint representatives to the workgroup instead of including “all interested localities where more than five recovery residences are located.”

Feb. 14: The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance the bill to the full House for consideration.

Feb. 19: The bill passed unanimously in the House.

House Bill 2289 | Zoning for recovery residences

Outcome: Failed

Chief Patron: Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield

Highlights: Requires local governments to treat certified recovery residences with eight or fewer occupants the same as residential occupancy by a single family for zoning purposes.

For a deep dive, see: Zoning for Virginia recovery homes: Power, protection and everything in between

Jan. 24: The bill was scheduled to be heard by House Subcommittee #3 on Counties, Cities and Towns. At the patron’s request, the bill was passed by for the day.

Next: The bill is on the subcommittee’s docket for Jan. 31, 7:30 a.m. in House Committee Room B-205.

To view the hearing remotely, visit the Virginia House of Delegates Video Streaming website.

To sign up to speak or leave a written public comment, click here.

If your representative serves on the subcommittee, it might also be worth making contact directly. To view a list of subcommittee members, click here. To find out who represents you, visit the state’s Who’s My Legislator? service.

Jan. 31: The bill was stricken from the docket at Coyner’s request.

View public comments on the bill here.

House Bill 1893 | Medicaid for recovery housing

Outcome: Failed

Chief Patron: Del. Holly Seibold, D-Fairfax County (click here to view all patrons)

Highlights:

  • Makes certified recovery residences (levels 2, 3 and 4) eligible for Medicaid reimbursement
  • Convenes a workgroup under DBHDS to establish a framework for studying recovery residence effectiveness, impacts on long-term recovery outcomes and economic impacts on the Commonwealth
  • The workgroup would consist of “relevant stakeholders, including representatives from the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the National Alliance for Recovery Residences, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the Virginia Association of Recovery Residences, the Virginia Society of Addiction Medicine, the Virginia Association of Addiction Professionals, and other stakeholders as deemed necessary…”

Jan. 21: The bill passed in the House Committee on Health and Human Services. Next, it will be considered by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health & Human Resources.

Jan. 29: In a 5-1 vote, the subcommittee recommended tabling the bill.

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