DDAP Resubmits Proposed Recovery House Regulations to IRRC

On Friday, October 1, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) resubmitted to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) its Final-Omitted Regulations on Standards for Drug and Alcohol Recovery House Licensure, as well as its response to IRRC’s disapproval order of Aug. 24, 2021.

The regulations are publicly available on IRRC’s website.

The submitted regulatory package includes the updated regulations (p. 98–129), as well as:

• a regulatory analysis (p. 1–12);
• IRRC’s disapproval order (p. 86–92);
• DDAP’s response to IRRC’s disapproval order (p. 93–97);
• a preamble that includes public comments and DDAP’s response to comments (p. 48–85);
• a sample recovery house licensing application (p. 13–14);
• a sample recovery house licensing checklist (p. 15–22); and
• additional DDAP forms (p. 23–35), as well as a description of forms that must be provided by the recovery house (p. 36–46).

The above linked documents reflect the changes made to the regulations since DDAP appeared at IRRC’s public meeting in July. The revised regulations are scheduled to be considered at IRRC’s next public meeting on Thursday, October 21.

Upcoming Timeline:

• DDAP expects that the new regulations will be in effect by October 2021.
• DDAP expects to require compliance with the new regulations by April 2022.

Which Recovery Houses Will Need a License?

Once the new licensing program is in place, drug and alcohol recovery houses must have a license to:

1. Receive referrals from state agencies or state-funded facilities; or
2. Receive federal or state funding to deliver recovery house services.

In addition, the law imposes two additional requirements on referrals to recovery houses:

1. People whose treatment is funded with state or federal funds shall only to be referred to licensed recovery houses.
2. Courts shall give first consideration to licensed recovery houses when residential recommendations are made for individuals under their supervision.

Additional information on drug and alcohol recovery house licensing can be found here.