republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/sb-1020.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Peer recovery specialists and qualified mental health professionals; registration."
description: "Authorizes the registration of peer recovery specialists and qualified mental health professionals by the Board of Counseling. The bill defines \"qualified mental health professional\" as a person who by education and experience is professionally qualified and registered by the Board of Counseling to provide collaborative mental health services for adults or children. The bill requires that a qualified mental health professional provide such services as an employee or independent contractor of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or a provider licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill defines \"registered peer recovery specialist\" as a person who by education and experience is professionally qualified and registered by the Board of Counseling to provide collaborative services to assist individuals in achieving sustained recovery from the effects of addiction or mental illness, or both. The bill requires that a registered peer recovery specialist provide such services as an employee or independent contractor of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a provider licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a practitioner licensed by or holding a permit issued from the Department of Health Professions, or a facility licensed by the Department of Health. The bill adds qualified mental health professionals and registered peer recovery specialists to the list of mental health providers that are required to take actions to protect third parties under certain circumstances and notify clients of their right to report to the Department of Health Professions any unethical, fraudulent, or unprofessional conduct. The bill directs the Board of Counseling and the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill within 280 days of its enactment. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 1020"
citation: "Virginia SB 1020 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Behavioral Health and Developmental Services", "Commissions", "Boards and Institutions Generally", "Professions and Occupations"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["George L. Barker"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 20
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2017-01-04"
last_action: "2017-03-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b0ac3ece-dfe2-41fd-991f-eadfc5dc9668"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB1020"
source_hash: "ab5772082cefef41eb253af55684a9963e772218b1f75c13fcdec76b74d6275c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 1020 (2017) — Peer recovery specialists and qualified mental health professionals; registration.

Authorizes the registration of peer recovery specialists and qualified mental health professionals by the Board of Counseling. The bill defines "qualified mental health professional" as a person who by education and experience is professionally qualified and registered by the Board of Counseling to provide collaborative mental health services for adults or children. The bill requires that a qualified mental health professional provide such services as an employee or independent contractor of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or a provider licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill defines "registered peer recovery specialist" as a person who by education and experience is professionally qualified and registered by the Board of Counseling to provide collaborative services to assist individuals in achieving sustained recovery from the effects of addiction or mental illness, or both. The bill requires that a registered peer recovery specialist provide such services as an employee or independent contractor of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a provider licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, a practitioner licensed by or holding a permit issued from the Department of Health Professions, or a facility licensed by the Department of Health. The bill adds qualified mental health professionals and registered peer recovery specialists to the list of mental health providers that are required to take actions to protect third parties under certain circumstances and notify clients of their right to report to the Department of Health Professions any unethical, fraudulent, or unprofessional conduct. The bill directs the Board of Counseling and the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill within 280 days of its enactment. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0426)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0426)
2. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1020ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1020ER)
3. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 17104802D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1020S1)
4. **Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101955D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1020)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **6–2** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Appropriations — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions — **18–4** (pass) · legislature
- Passed House — **80–16** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Education and Health with substitute — **15–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- George L. Barker — primary (person)
- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-04** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101955D `introduction`
- **2017-01-04** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-01-30** Reading of substitute waived
- **2017-01-30** Committee substitute agreed to 17104802D-S1
- **2017-01-30** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1020S1
- **2017-02-03** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-03** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-14** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-14** Assigned App. sub: Health & Human Resources `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-17** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-20** Passed House (80-Y 16-N) `passage`
- **2017-02-22** Enrolled
- **2017-02-22** Signed by President
- **2017-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-23** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on 2/23/17
- **2017-02-23** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 426 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b0ac3ece-dfe2-41fd-991f-eadfc5dc9668`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).