Accreditation Overview

Basic Outline of the Accreditation Process

1. Contact the VARR Office directly expressing interest in certification or complete VARR’s online application which will trigger the VARR Office to contact you
2. Review the NARR Standards 3.0, VARR’s Code of Ethics, and VARR’s Certification & Compliance Agreement
3. If not already done, complete VARR’s online application
4. Verify legal entity status, appropriate insurance coverage, and verify permission from property owner to operate recovery residence
5. Submit policies and procedures to meet the standards
6. Perform an on-site inspection of the recovery residence to meet the standards
7. Sign VARR Certification & Compliance Agreement, VARR Code of Ethics & VARR Assurances
8. Accreditation complete

Accreditation Fees

VARR Annual Affiliate Fee – VARR Accredited providers will be required to pay a flat-rate, annual VARR Affiliate Fee of $750. This fee is paid once per organization per year, even if the organization has multiple residences. The Annual Affiliate Fee is paid upon achieving accreditation of an organization’s first residence and annually thereafter so long as the organization maintains at least one accredited recovery residence

VARR Accreditation Fee – In addition to the Annual Affiliate Fee, accredited providers will pay an Accreditation Fee of $10 per accredited bed. 

• Ex: If Recovery House inc. operates 40 beds their  Accreditation Fee would be $400 (40 x $10)

TOTAL FEE: The VARR Annual Affiliate Fee and Accreditation Fee will be invoiced together on the same invoice upon an organization’s initial achievement of accreditation and annually thereafter.

• Ex: If Recovery House Inc, operates 40 beds, they will pay the Annual Affiliate Fee of $750 plus the Accreditation Fee of $400 ($10 per bed) for a total invoice amount of $1150.

If an organization adds accredited beds during the year for which they’ve already paid the Annual Affiliate Fee they will be invoiced a separate Accreditation Fee for the additional accredited beds

Maintaining Accreditation

In order to maintain accreditation, a recovery residence operator will complete the re-accreditation process which is initiated by submitting an application for re-accreditation for each accredited residence. The re-accreditation process is to be completed within the 60-days prior of the expiration date that is displayed on the Certificate of Compliance that is issued upon accreditation.

If an accredited recovery residence operator does not complete required items for maintaining accreditation prior to the expiration date, then an operator will enter into Lapsed Accreditation. Lapsed Accreditation is when an operator has failed administratively to maintain their accreditation before the expiration date on their Certificate of Compliance. During a Lapsed Accreditation, an operator still holds their accreditation for 90-days past the expiration date. If they fail to complete the required items to maintain accreditation during that 90-day period then the accreditation will be expired on Day 91.

Any operator that allows their accreditation to lapse will be provided with the following information:

1. 1. Notification of lapsed accreditation.
   2. Instructions for maintaining their accreditation.
   3. Deadline for submitting any required materials.
   4. Deadline for when lapsed accreditation will become a revocation of accreditation.

Confidentiality

Recovery residence (RR) operators seeking or maintaining VARR accreditation submit policies, procedures, operational documents, financial information, incident reports, and other proprietary materials. VARR treats all such materials as strictly confidential. VARR uses them solely for purposes related to accreditation, quality improvement, compliance monitoring, complaint investigations, and to protect our rights and the rights of others. 

Except as required by law, court order, or explicit operator authorization, VARR does not disclose or distribute an operator’s confidential business information or proprietary documents to other operators, organizations, or the public. Access to these materials is strictly limited to authorized personnel who require the information to fulfill VARR’s mission and responsibilities. This includes authorized staff, board members, legal counsel, and agents acting on behalf of VARR, all of whom are bound by confidentiality obligations.

We may share information with third-party vendors or contractors who perform services on our behalf (e.g. IT services, payment processors) and who are obligated to safeguard information.

VARR is committed to protecting the integrity of accreditation and the organizational functions while respecting the confidential and proprietary information of recovery residence organizations.