Several years ago our 19 yr old daughter went to rehab for alcohol addiction. After 30 days her counselors advised us to put her in a sober living facility. This was all new to us. She was out of state & I was very apprehensive about her moving in with other addicts out of state. However, since this was not my area of expertise I chose to take the advice I had spent so much money to get.
I took her there & it took everything in me to leave her there. It was not anything like where she had grown up.
She had only been away from home to go to college & live in a dorm.
I would make this decision again. She had rules, curfews, responsibilities, mandatory meetings, drug testing, etc...
She stayed there 3 months. The job she got was seasonal & she was having a hard time finding a new one. The "owner" offered to forgo her rent for sexual favors. She refused, moved in with someone she met in meetings. She thought this girl was sober. Until she came home to a party the second night she came home. She stayed with another friend, called me to loan her money for an apt. I told her I wouldn't do that but I would come & get her.
When she got home she was more responsible & appreciative than she had ever been. The living in that environment had helped her grow up.
However, she did have lots of horror stories about some of the people who lived there. But I agree that it's like anywhere, if you are committed to being sober it works. If you are not, it won't. She learned that what she had grown up with was not what everybody else had. She had real appreciation for her family.
I believe if she had come straight home, it would have been a disaster. Same old friends, ignoring our rules, we were just "overlords", etc....
She learned a lot about real life, in a some what controlled environment.
Her biggest problem (& it still is), is finding friends in her age group, 22 now, that don't party. But she is committed to that & has been able to do so, it's just not as easy.
Good luck, thinking about you....