Vermont recovery centers seek $2.1 million in FY26 funding, including $500,000 for oral health

Advocates for peer-run recovery centers asked the Health & Welfare committee to include $1.6 million in base funding and $500,000 from opioid settlement funds in the FY26 budget to expand services, during a legislative hearing (date not specified).

Lila Bennett, executive director of Journey to Recovery Community Center in Newport, told the committee the requested funds would support recovery centers’ operations and an oral-health initiative for people the centers serve. "Please support our budget requests, which include a base increase of $1,600,000 to recovery centers and $500,000 in opioid settlement funds to support the oral health initiative for the people that we serve," Bennett said.

The request, shepherded by Recovery Partners of Vermont, would fund peer support services designed to reduce emergency department visits and help people return to the workforce. Bennett said Journey to Recovery has grown from a one-person operation to a staff of 11 and now serves "thousands of people every year," and that the additional money would support nearly 200 employees across recovery centers statewide.

Gary DeCarlos, who identified himself as executive director of Recovery Partners of Vermont, introduced the organization’s incoming executive director, Susie Walker, and said Walker would assume leadership in the near term; Walker was not present at the hearing.

Several people with lived experience described how peer-run services aided their recoveries. Nicholas Farris, a participant at Journey Recovery in Newport, described how the center’s staff and sober-living supports helped him rejoin the workforce and reconnect with his family. "I hope you will see from my testimony that this additional funding will directly help people like me and my families like mine," Farris said.

Speakers asked the committee to include the $1.6 million base increase in the budget memo for appropriations and to allocate $500,000 from opioid settlement funds for an oral-health initiative intended to support recovery-related health needs. Advocates argued the funds would help centers maintain services amid rising costs and insurance pressures and expand school and workforce programs.

Committee staff thanked the speakers and acknowledged the compressed legislative calendar; no formal committee action or vote on the request was recorded in the transcript.

Looking ahead, any change in funding would need to be adopted through the state’s appropriations process and is subject to decisions by budget writers and the full Legislature.