Our son lives in an Oxford House in Sterling Virginia. Oxford Houses are democratically self-governing and self-supporting under the Oxford House system of operations. The peer support and running the house together has allowed Andrew to successfully navigate his recovery, while taking on responsibilities within the Oxford House and helping his peers do the same.  His growth as a person has been remarkable. His empathy for others and making amends with family and friends would not have happened without the Oxford structure. He is working and attending community college, he has goals!!

The Oxford House structure of self governance and peers running the house together is what makes it different and successful. We are thankful for such a wonderful and rewarding program. 

I support rules that keep people safe, but rules that require staff or assume every home is a commercial business would keep Oxford Houses from operating in Virginia, even though research shows their model gets the best results. Please change those rules, and please clarify whether house members are considered the operator.