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Virginia License Reinstatement

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Written by

A. Ant, CADC-II

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Author: A. Ant, CADC-II, Licensing & Accreditation Expert

Disclaimer: This content is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, regulatory, or licensing advice. Requirements change frequently. Consult qualified professionals for guidance specific to your situation.

Most Virginia enforcement starts small, with a citation in a DBHDS licensing report, and only some of it ends in suspension or revocation. Summary suspension, the fastest tool the Commissioner has, is narrower than many operators assume: the Code writes it for group homes and residential facilities, not for every licensed service. Knowing which step your program is actually at, and what the law says happens next, decides what response helps and how you get back to a full license.

The Commissioner’s Enforcement Authority

The tools sit in Article 2 of Chapter 4 of Title 37.2 and in 12VAC35-105. From lightest to heaviest:

  • Provisional license. 12VAC35-105-50 lets DBHDS replace a full license with a provisional one when a service can’t stay in compliance, has violations that threaten health or safety, has multiple violations, or has failed to comply with a previous corrective action plan. Under § 37.2-415 it runs up to six months, can be renewed once for a total of 12 successive months, and has to be posted at the site of the affected service. The first full license after it is capped at one year.
  • Special order sanctions. After an informal conference under § 2.2-4019, § 37.2-419 lets the Commissioner issue a special order lasting no more than 12 months when a violation adversely affects individuals’ human rights or poses an imminent and substantial threat to health, safety, or welfare. The order can put the service on probation, cut licensed capacity or stop new admissions, require a posted notice, require staff training at the provider’s expense, impose a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation per day, or withhold public funds. Under 12VAC35-105-100 B those sanctions stay in effect while any appeal is pending.
  • Denial, revocation, or suspension. § 37.2-418 and 12VAC35-105-110 cover this. The regulation’s seven grounds include violating the licensing article, conduct detrimental to the welfare of individuals served or in violation of human rights, refusing DBHDS access or records, submitting misleading or false information, and failing “to submit or implement an adequate corrective action plan.”
  • Court action. For a service operating in violation of the article, § 37.2-417 lets the Commissioner go to the circuit court where the provider is located for an injunction.

Reporting duties run alongside all of this. 12VAC35-105-160 requires Level II and Level III serious incidents to be reported within 24 hours of discovery, and 12VAC35-115-230 requires each allegation of abuse or neglect to be reported through DBHDS’s web-based system within 24 hours of receipt. A late or missing report is its own citation, on top of whatever the incident was.

Licensing Inspections Feed Directly Into Enforcement

Code of Virginia § 37.2-411 requires at least one annual unannounced inspection of each service a provider is licensed for, and 12VAC35-105-70 adds that DBHDS can review “at any time,” including announced or unannounced visits during complaint and incident investigations. Every citation from those visits lands in a licensing report, and 12VAC35-105-170 governs the response. The regulations make history matter: “multiple violations” and failure “to comply with a previous corrective action plan” are listed grounds for a provisional license in 12VAC35-105-50. In our experience, a citation that keeps coming back on the same standard is what turns a routine review into a sanction conversation.

No Accreditation Safety Net

Neither the licensing statute nor 12VAC35-105 gives accredited providers deemed status, and the enforcement sections (12VAC35-105-100, -110 and -170, §§ 37.2-418 and 37.2-419) say nothing about accreditation. So holding CARF, Joint Commission, or COA accreditation doesn’t change how DBHDS handles a citation, a special order, or a suspension. The one exception runs the other way: 12VAC35-105-930 requires a medication for opioid use disorder treatment service to keep accreditation from a federally approved body, so for an OTP, losing accreditation is itself a licensing problem. For everyone else, the accreditor’s corrective action process is a separate track, and in our experience losing accreditation mostly hurts with payers and referral sources.

Responding to a Citation

A corrective action plan that looks good on paper and a corrective action plan that actually gets implemented are two very different things to DBHDS. 12VAC35-105-170 sets the clock. The plan is due within 15 business days after DBHDS issues the licensing report. You get one extension, of no more than 10 more business days, and only if you ask before the due date. Each plan has to describe the corrective actions, give a completion date for each, and name the person responsible. If DBHDS doesn’t approve it, a revised plan is due within 10 business days. Where the violations pose a danger to individuals receiving the service, DBHDS can require an immediate corrective action plan.

If you think a citation is wrong, the rule sends you to the licensing specialist first, then the supervisor and the licensing director, and “the determination of the director is final.” Raise it early, because the plan deadline keeps running.

The plan is only half of the duty. The provider “shall implement” each approved plan by its completion date and must monitor whether the fixes work through its quality improvement program under 12VAC35-105-620. Failing to “submit or implement an adequate corrective action plan” is one of the listed grounds for denial, revocation, or suspension in 12VAC35-105-110, so a plan that never gets carried out is worse than a late one. Our practice is to put each corrective action on the operations calendar with an owner, the same day the plan goes in.

Summary Suspension

Two Code sections create it, and both are limited by facility type. § 37.2-418 E covers “a group home or residential facility for children,” and § 37.2-419.1 covers a group home or residential facility for adults. The trigger in both is conditions or practices that “pose an immediate and substantial threat to the health, safety, and welfare” of the residents. In both cases the summary order is issued “in conjunction with any proceeding for revocation, denial, or other action,” so it’s a stopgap while the main case moves, and § 37.2-419.1 says the adult-facility order takes effect “upon its issuance.”

The timeline after that is short. A hearing has to be held no later than three business days after the order, convened by the Commissioner or a designee, who then either issues a final order of summary suspension or finds it isn’t warranted. A final order can be appealed to circuit court within 10 days, and the only question for the court is whether the Commissioner had reasonable grounds to make the provider stop operating while the main case goes forward. A willful and material failure to comply with either the summary order or the final order is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

As we read the Code, an outpatient, IOP, or PHP service isn’t subject to this summary procedure. Suspension of those licenses goes through § 37.2-418 and the Administrative Process Act, with notice and a hearing first. If you run a residential program and receive a summary order, get counsel involved the same day and start fixing the underlying safety problem at once, because three business days is all the time you have to show the Commissioner it’s handled.

Hearings and Appeals

12VAC35-105-110 B requires DBHDS to tell a provider in writing that it intends to deny, revoke, or suspend, with the reasons, the right to appeal, and the appeal process. § 37.2-418 B applies the Administrative Process Act to these actions, and § 37.2-419 treats a special order as a case decision under the same Act.

  • Informal fact-finding (§ 2.2-4019). This is the default first step unless you and the agency both agree to skip to a formal hearing. You’re entitled to reasonable notice, to appear in person or through counsel, to hear about adverse information the agency holds, and to get the factual or procedural basis of an adverse decision in writing.
  • Formal hearing (§ 2.2-4020). Here you can have counsel, put on documents and witnesses, and cross-examine. The statute puts the burden of proof on the “proponent or applicant.”
  • Court review (§ 2.2-4026). A party aggrieved by a case decision has a right to direct court review, brought “in the manner provided by the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia” (Part Two A covers appeals under the Act). Under Rule 2A:2, the notice of appeal has to be filed with the agency secretary within 30 days after service of the final order, with 3 days added when the law requires the decision to be served by mail. Have counsel calendar that date the day the final order arrives.

Appealing doesn’t pause everything. Special order sanctions stay in force during an appeal under 12VAC35-105-100 B, and an appeal of a revocation pushes back the date you can reapply, as explained below.

Reinstating After Suspension or Revocation

Suspension and revocation lead back in very different ways, and mixing them up costs months.

After a suspension. § 37.2-418 D says a suspension is “for an indefinite time” and can be lifted, with rights under the license “fully or partially restored,” when the Commissioner decides, “based on an inspection,” that the licensee’s rights call for it and the public won’t be put at risk. The subsection says nothing about a new application, so as we read it a suspended provider doesn’t start over. The work is getting the problems fixed, documented, and ready for a DBHDS inspection, then asking for that inspection. Partial restoration is possible, which can mean reopening with limits before getting everything back.

After a revocation or refused application. § 37.2-418 C bars reapplying until six months have passed from the effective date of the action. The Commissioner can, in his “sole discretion,” consider a new application sooner if the conditions behind the action have changed enough. If you appeal, the six months are extended until the appeal is finally decided, so a long appeal you lose can push reapplication well past the original date. A new license issues only after an inspection and a recommendation based on it.

A reapplication also lands in the intake process DBHDS uses for every applicant today. Its licensing information page says applications must be submitted within 90 days of starting or they are administratively closed, and submitted applications go on a waitlist that “may not be processed in chronological order.” Under DBHDS’s July 18, 2025 memo, Priority 1 services are assigned within 5 to 10 business days and Priority 2 within 21 business days, while for non-priority services at least one applicant comes off the waitlist each month. Since November 7, 2025, a new application for a Priority 1 or 2 service has to come with the Initial Applicant Orientation and a proctored Comprehensive Knowledge Exam passed at 85% or better, and DBHDS’s January 2026 CONNECT Spotlight says one filed without the orientation “will not be reviewed under the priority timeline.” And if the new application includes one of the new behavioral health services (Community Psychiatric Support and Treatment, Coordinated Specialty Care, or Recovery and Empowerment Center), DBHDS’s August 26, 2026 memo adds a mandatory pre-application training. None of those DBHDS documents mentions revoked or denied providers specifically, so our reading is that a reapplicant is treated as a new applicant. Confirm that with the Office of Licensing at (804) 786-1747 before you plan around it.

Finally, under 12VAC35-105-50 a new provider can start on a conditional license, and the first full license after a conditional or provisional one runs no more than a year. Expect a shorter leash for the first cycle back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can DBHDS summarily suspend a Virginia behavioral health license?

For some programs. The Code allows summary suspension of a group home or residential facility for children (section 37.2-418 E) or for adults (section 37.2-419.1) when conditions there pose an immediate and substantial threat to residents, alongside a revocation, denial, or other proceeding. A hearing must follow within three business days, and a final order can be appealed to circuit court within 10 days. As we read the Code, suspending any other service goes through the regular notice-and-hearing process under the Administrative Process Act.

Does accreditation protect a Virginia license from suspension or revocation?

No. Virginia’s licensing statute and 12VAC35-105 give accredited providers no deemed status, so CARF, Joint Commission, or COA accreditation does not change how DBHDS handles a citation, special order, or suspension. Opioid treatment programs are the exception in reverse, since 12VAC35-105-930 requires them to keep federally approved accreditation.

Is there a faster reinstatement process after a Virginia license is suspended or revoked?

It depends on the action. A suspension can be lifted, fully or partly, once the Commissioner finds through an inspection that operations can safely resume (section 37.2-418 D). That subsection does not call for a new application. After a revocation or refusal, the provider must wait six months from the effective date before reapplying, longer if it appeals, unless the Commissioner decides conditions have changed enough to consider a new application sooner (section 37.2-418 C).

Facing a citation, a special order, or a suspension from DBHDS? Reach out here.

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