Sen. Joe Morrissey

Correctional facilities; use of restorative housing; report. Directs the Department of Corrections to convene a work group to study the use of restorative housing within state correctional facilities and juvenile correctional centers. The bill directs the Department to facilitate confidential interviews between work group members and at least 25 persons currently incarcerated in a state correctional facility who are currently or who have within the past 12 months been placed in restorative housing, provided that such persons are not the subject of or involved in pending litigation with the Department, and confidential interviews with existing staff and facility officials as requested by the work group. The bill requires the work group to submit its findings and recommendations, including how to safely reduce or end the use of restorative housing that lasts longer than 14 days, to the General Assembly by December 1, 2022.

Certified recovery residences. Requires every person who operates a recovery residence to disclose to potential residents whether the recovery residence is a certified recovery residence and that no health care provider or behavioral health service provider who receives public funds or state agency shall refer a person with substance abuse disorder to a recovery residence unless the recovery residence has been certified by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Board). The bill also provides that credentialing agencies by which the Board may require accreditation or in which the Board may require membership shall administer credentialing and certification programs in accordance with standards of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences; requires the Board to adopt regulations requiring each certified recovery residence include one or more resident or nonresident staff persons who is employed by the provider for compensation and who is responsible for oversight or management of the recovery residence; and requires the Department to provide, for each certified recovery residence included on the list maintained on the Department’s website the level of support provided by the certified recovery residence. The bill also provides that certified recovery residences shall constitute residential occupancy by a single family for zoning purposes, regardless of the number of persons residing in the certified recovery residence, and exempts certified recovery residences from the provisions of the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act.

Department of Education; State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; instruction concerning post-graduate opportunities for high school students. Requires the Department of Education to collect and distribute to public schools and publicly post on its website information that assists high school students in making more informed decisions about their futures after graduating from high school and in doing so ensure that such students are aware of the costs and benefits of different educational and certificate programs. The bill directs the Department to annually collect and compile such information in consultation with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and any other entity that can assist the Department with collecting and compiling such information and to update its distribution materials accordingly each year. The bill requires the Department to post and distribute the information to school boards, with any relevant updates, no later than October 1 each year and requires each school board to ensure that the information is readily available to each high school student and distributed to each high school student who expresses an interest in attending an institution of higher education or completing another training program as described in the bill. This bill is identical to HB 1299.

Nutrient credit stream restoration projects;use of third-party long-term stewards. Authorizes the Departmentof Environmental Quality to allow the use of third-party long-termstewards to hold and manage the long-term management fund to maintainstream restoration projects.

Workers' compensation; time period for filing claim; certain cancers. Provides that the time period for filing a workers' compensation claim for certain cancers is two years after a diagnosis of the disease is first communicated to the employee or within 10 years from the date of the last injurious exposure in employment, whichever first occurs. The bill provides, however, that such claim for benefits shall be barred if an employee is 65 years of age or older, regardless of the date of diagnosis, communication, or last injurious exposure in employment. This bill is identical to HB 1042.