For several years, Virginia’s halfway homes for recovering addicts have been managed by an independent, non-governmental group.
That will soon change to the dismay of some local recovery home operators.
Language in this year’s budget takes nearly $2 million away from the Virginia Association of Recovery Residences, or VARR. The organization certifies group homes, of which there are more than 100 in Richmond and Henrico. It also monitors those homes, investigates complaints and sets standards of care.
Darryl Cousins, left, a men’s house coordinator for Starfish Recovery in Richmond, meets for a one-on-one session with Chris Clark in 2022.
EVA RUSSO, TIME-DISPATCH
Funding cuts tearing holes in region’s health care safety net, officials say
VARR Board President Sarah Scarbrough said the group believed it would still be eligible for $1.6 million in funding. But on Friday, it was notified that funding for the upcoming year would be cut entirely.
“I’m writing to inform you that now that the FY26 budget has been signed into law, VARR will not be receiving state dollars in the upcoming fiscal year,” an employee with the Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services told VARR.
“The General Assembly has removed VARR as the named entity for Recovery Residences (RR) funding and has instead directed that these funds be allocated directly to operators,” the email went on.
As the email suggests, the work of certifying recovery homes appears set to become the responsibility of the Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services. New budget language states that money will now flow directly to recovery residences from the state, removing VARR from the equation.
Sarah Scarbrough — the board president of the Virginia Association of Recovery Residences, or VARR — is seen in 2016. Scarbrough said the organization was “completely blindsided” when the Virginia legislature cut $2 million of the organization’s funding.
JOE MAHONEY, TIMES-DISPATCH
Scarbrough said the organization was “completely blindsided.” The group was aware of a new reform bill passed this year — the bill created a working group to study recovery residences — but didn’t foresee a budget cut. Without the funds, VARR will shut down, she said.
On Wednesday, Scarbrough met with the department. Scarbrough said the cut was explained to her as “the intent of the General Assembly.” Later that morning, she sent out a flurry of emails advising recovery residences to contact the office of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and individual state legislators.
Scarbrough believes the change has set recovery homes on track to run off a financial cliff on July 1. She thinks the change may cut off care to those who can’t pay out of pocket. Scarbrough said VARR’s funding work has been critical to broadening access beyond just a white, middle-class demographic.
Lauren Cunningham, a spokesperson for the Department of Behavioral Health, said the agency was taking direction from the legislature. The cut was first proposed by Youngkin in his initial budget in December.
“The budget language passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor ultimately determines how state funds are allocated,” said Cunningham. “DBHDS has acted in accordance with the legislative process and is aligning funding distribution to match the intent of such language.”
Cunningham said that VARR would still be eligible for a separate pot of state opioid response grant dollars. Scarbrough said those grants have previously only provided about a quarter of the funds needed to keep VARR afloat.
Cunningham said the agency was currently working to “minimize any disruption to services.”
“Resources for those in recovery and efforts to prevent overdose remain the priority of DBHDS,” said Cunningham.
The cut comes alongside multiple changes for recovery operators in Virginia. This year, the law creating the workgroup — sponsored by Henrico State Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg — also made operating an uncertified recovery residence a criminal misdemeanor.
VanValkenburg’s law came several months after local Henrico County officials drew attention to recovery residences. In August of 2024, Henrico Deputy Manager for Public Safety Mike Feinmel told the county’s board of supervisors that residents had concerns about a “lack of oversight” in neighborhood recovery homes.
Another county employee, Mike Sherman, testified about unethical behavior in Henrico recovery residences before the General Assembly. Scarbrough said the county officials shared misinformation about incidents that hadn’t been reported to VARR executives. Legislators passed the bill unanimously.
Van Valkenburger’s chief of staff, Rachel Levy, said defunding VARR was “not the intention” of the legislation.
Stephanie Bellanger, a former board member with VARR and chief wellness officer of Starfish Recovery, described the budget cut as an attack on Richmond’s recovering addicts.
“The bottom line is, one, what they’re doing will end up reducing the number of beds, and two, they’re really trying to cripple the recovery-led, grassroots, lived-experience operators and movement here in Richmond,” said Bellanger.
Frank Bellanger III and his wife, Stephanie, run Starfish Recovery in Richmond.
JAMES H. WALLACE, TIMES-DISPATCH
The change-up comes at a time of record-breaking success in the state’s fight against the opioid epidemic. In April, Virginia achieved a 44% drop in deaths from fentanyl, the powerful street drug that can be fatal in the smallest doses.
Virginia outpaced much of the country in curbing opioid overdoses. Youngkin credited several efforts, including his administration’s distribution of over 380,000 doses of Naloxone, alongside a crackdown on drug traffickers led by his administration.
Although not mentioned, recovery residence operators believe they, too, played their part in Virginia’s success story.
David Rook, CEO of True Recovery RVA, stands outside Imagine the Freedom Recovery Foundation in Henrico County. “Addiction is a community issue,” said Rook, 45, former president of the Virginia Association of Recovery Residences.
Bob Brown, (Richmond) Times-Dispatch
“Many places have peer support, many places have suboxone and methadone and all the medical interventions. But what’s the difference in the Richmond metro area?” asked David Rook, former president of VARR.
“The only difference that you can really point to out of all those places is the access to recovery residence beds,” said Rook. “The access to those, that’s the difference.”