As residents and active members of the recovery community in Virginia, we strongly urge the Department and the State Board to reconsider the heavy-handed administrative burdens and rigid credentialing requirements proposed in Chapter 260.

Oxford Houses provide a vital, unstaffed, and entirely self-governed model that has successfully empowered individuals in long-term recovery for decades. The strength of the Oxford model lies precisely in its grassroots, peer-run foundation—free from the costly overhead, institutional bureaucracy, and rigid mandates that commercial treatment facilities require.

Enforcing state-level applications, strict structural ratios, and heavy fees threatens the affordability and independence of these safe havens, ultimately pricing out or shutting down the exact type of transitional housing that keeps people alive and thriving. We ask that the state respect and protect the unique autonomy of self-governed recovery residences rather than burying them in red tape.

— Tex & Kimmie