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Virginia campuses expand collegiate recovery programs using opioid abatement and grant funds
Summary
Presenters from Virginia Commonwealth University, Radford University and Virginia Tech described how state and opioid-abatement grant funding has supported recovery housing, naloxone access, scholarships and peer-led outreach on campuses across Virginia.
Tom Bernard, assistant director for substance use and recovery support at Virginia Commonwealth University, and colleagues on April 10 presented a state overview of collegiate recovery programs and how grant and opioid abatement funds have been used to expand services for students in recovery.
Collegiate recovery programs provide peer support, housing, scholarships and overdose-prevention tools for students recovering from substance use disorders. "I can't think of a better way to use abatement funds than to support the education and the next steps for folks who are in and in recovery," Bernard said during the Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority's Abatement Academy webinar.
The program leaders described three campus models and several common investments: recovery housing, course-based recovery seminars with scholarships, naloxone distribution and training, outreach such as campus "coffee bikes," and part-time positions for peer facilitators.
At Virginia Tech, Caitlin Carter, assistant director with Hokie Wellness, said the office launched campus recovery housing in the fall and partnered with the university's Living-Learning Programs to site the residence near the recovery lounge. The housing contains 14 beds; Carter said the program's first year housed seven students and the team is working to fill all beds in year two. Carter described scholarship ties to a weekly recovery seminar, part-time employment for students as meeting facilitators and outreach positions that run the coffee bike. "I am a lover and a full believer in the power of a coffee bike," Carter said, describing the outreach tool as a way to start conversations and connect students to one-on-one support.
Radford University assistant director Cora Taylor said Radford used opioid-abatement funding to pay for a full-time coordinator of peer services and part-time peer roles, to place naloxone access boxes in residence halls and common spaces, and to provide scholarships that cover living costs for students coming from local treatment programs. Taylor said the university secured community buy-in by offering revive (naloxone) trainings to fraternities and other student groups, then supplying boxes to houses that completed training.
Bernard described a statewide scholarship program run out of VCU, called the Recovery Scholars program, which he said serves students from nonprofit colleges across Virginia. "That program has grown to more than a 100 students, across the state, per semester," he said; the program provides small semester scholarships tied to a supportive seminar and is offered hybrid (in-person and virtual) to reach students at schools without an established collegiate recovery program.
Presenters linked the investments to a recovery-care continuum that emphasizes prolonged peer support after initial treatment. Bernard noted research showing the first years of recovery are high-risk and that peer-supported campus programs can help sustain engagement in recovery during that period.
Panelists also highlighted overdose-prevention work. Virginia Tech has placed naloxone kits (referred to in the session as "1 boxes") near AEDs in residence halls and is piloting expansion into nonresidential spaces. Carter said the campus partners with Hokie Wellness' alcohol-and-other-drugs team to train student peer leaders to carry and distribute naloxone and teach bystander response. Radford said it has placed naloxone access boxes in its library, rec center and athletic venues.
Speakers described strategies to sustain programs after initial grant awards: demonstrating program value to secure recurring university budget support and using grant-funded pilots to attract institutional adoption. Taylor said Radford converted some grant-funded roles into university-funded positions after documenting program impact.
The session closed with information about additional resources: Bernard mentioned VCU's Research to Recovery conference and encouraged attendees to contact the presenters or visit posted resources on the Opioid Abatement Authority website. The webinar recording and presentation files will be posted to the Authority's site in two to three days, the moderator said.
No formal votes or policy actions were taken during the webinar; it was an information-sharing session for community leaders and campus practitioners.
