The proposed definition of a group home to allow only for assistants "who do not live in the home" is unacceptable.

Please reconsider your definition of a group home to allow for the blended staff plan so excellently modeled by organizations such as L'Arche of Greater Washington DC, which provides two communities in the norhtern Virginia area. The negative impact of this change in definition to exclude live in assistants, working in partnership with assistants who live outside the home, is hard to fathom. So many individuals with developmental disabilities who live iand thrive in these homes with blended staff will see their choices serverely limited, and their isolation from loving, caring, professional, and deeply committed assistants will benefit no one — least of all these wonderful residents.