AL-ANON GUIDELINES The Shared Experiences of Al-Anon and Alateen Members INSTITUTIONS SERVICE (G-9) Note: This is an interim update of the Institutions Services Guideline. In 1996, the committees at the Al-Anon World Service Office were restructured on a trial basis. The trial was extended in 1999 for an additional 3 years. There is now a Public Outreach Committee and an Outreach to Professionals Advisory Committee. (Formerly there were P.I., CPC and Institutions Committees.) GOALS OF INSTITUTIONS SERVICE ¨ To bring the Al-Anon presence to hospitals, treatment centers, correctional and other residential facilities. The Al-Anon presence can be in the form of: contact with administrators of a facility; clarification of the Al-Anon program and philosophy; open meetings; speakers; a literature table; poster displays; or establishing institutions groups. ¨ To separate the Al-Anon philosophy from that of treatment centers. WHAT IS INSTITUTIONS SERVICE? It is, Al-Anon/Alateen members volunteering to reach out to families of alcoholics who are either residents or outpatients of hospitals and treatment centers, or inmates of correctional and other residential facilities. WHO CAN BECOME A VOLUNTEER? ¨ Any Al-Anon or Alateen member can volunteer and you need not do it alone. Encourage other members to come along! ¨ Your area may have an Institutions Coordinator and/or an institutions committee; you can join the team. ¨ If you live in a remote area, you may have to carry the message yourself. By doing so, eventually there will be another person to join you in your work. THE INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE Institutions Committees may be formed at: ¨ The group level...form a committee if there are no other groups nearby. ¨ The district level...by requesting participation of one or more interested members from each group. ¨ An information service/intergroup...an institutions chairperson may be elected from among local volunteers who then form a committee. ¨ The area level...with a member from each district, perhaps the district institutions chairperson and with the Area Institutions Coordinator serving as chairperson. The name of the Institutions Coordinator in an area is available from the World Service Office and/or the chairperson of the assembly. SUGGESTED QUALIFICATIONS FOR COMMITTEE MEMBERS The most important qualification is willingness. Other ingredients include a basic comprehension of the Twelve Steps and Traditions coupled with patience, understanding, and tolerance. Continued attendance at home group meetings helps maintain a healthy perspective. Knowledge of Al-Anon Traditions helps members communicate the Al-Anon philosophy to professional personnel who may inadvertently want to adjust Al-Anon/Alateen meetings to suit the needs of the facility. COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON DUTIES ¨ Chairs committee meetings. ¨ Communicates with the area coordinator. ¨ Initiates new projects. ¨ Acts as contact to the answering service, information service/intergroup. ¨ Reminds new institutions groups to register with the WSO. ¨ Keeps in touch with sponsors, and helps find replacements when necessary. ¨ Encourages members to serve Al-Anon/Alateen in institutions. ¨ Keeps the district representative (DR) and/or information service/intergroup informed of institutions work within the district. COMMITTEE FUNCTIONS Planning: ¨ Initiates contacts with institutions where there are no Al-Anon/Alateen meetings. ¨ Plans workshops independently or with the information service/intergroup and/or the assembly to encourage institutions activity. Suggested Activities: ¨ Presents "A Meeting on Wheels" to professional staff at institutions to encourage them to provide space for meetings. See: Guidelines for a Meeting on Wheels (G-22). ¨ Displays Al-Anon/Alateen posters in prominent places. ¨ Leaves literature at nurses' stations and in emergency waiting rooms. ¨ Provides programs for "family night" at treatment centers. ¨ Presents institutions "workshop on wheels" at district meetings. ¨ Since regulations vary at each institution, permission must be sought from the proper authorities before initiating any of the above. It is also suggested members keep up with changes in the administrative staff and try to conform to facility regulations. INSTITUTIONS SPONSOR DUTIES ¨ Acts as a liaison to a particular institution. ¨ Conforms with meeting requirements at each facility in line with the Traditions. ¨ Communicates with the contact professional at the institution. ¨ Schedules Al-Anon/Alateen volunteers to serve on particular days at the institution to work at a literature table, speak at orientation or open meetings, or lead a closed meeting. MEETINGS AT INSTITUTIONS A meeting format (S-22) is available from the WSO. In keeping with our principles, Al-Anon or Alateen group meetings are conducted by Al-Anon or Alateen members. Open Meeting (Orientation): An open meeting has a chairperson and usually two speakers who tell their own stories of recovery. The chairperson briefly explains the Al-Anon program (literature, telephone sharing with others and attendance at meetings) then introduces the speakers. Professionals and other interested people may attend. Closed Meeting: This meeting is attended only by those qualified for Al-Anon or Alateen membership. A closed meeting is led by an Al-Anon or Alateen member who speaks briefly on a topic that will introduce newcomers to the Al-Anon program. Suggested topics: ¨ The First Step ¨ Slogans ¨ Alcoholism - a three-fold family disease. Staff or professionals will occasionally attend closed meetings and might inadvertently become leaders of the group. When this occurs, the focus could shift away from the Al-Anon philosophy. It is important for those members who are leading the discussion to adhere to Traditions and stay with the chosen topic of the Al-Anon meetings. WHAT IS AN INSTITUTIONS GROUP? An institutions group meets to carry the Al-Anon message to several people at one time. Such Al-Anon and Alateen institutions group meetings are held at hospitals, treatment centers, correctional, and other residential facilities. Its purpose is to carry the Al-Anon/Alateen message to families of alcoholics who are in contact with these facilities. Membership at an institutions group is transient. Because of this, it is essential to have experienced Al-Anon/Alateen members lead the meetings and refer families to groups near their homes. The responsibility for an institutions group may be divided among the groups in a district, a few nearby groups, or the members of an institutions committee. This type of meeting serves to explain to potential members what Al-Anon/Alateen is and how it can help. This group does not have a Group Representative (GR). Transient members will have area assembly representation from their home group GR. Holding More Than One Meeting At the Facility: Two or more groups can successfully hold meetings independently at the same facility. They will be registered separately at the WSO. One type may be as an institutions group meeting with transient membership; the other may be a home group meeting for members in the community who find the location convenient. HOW TO START AN INSTITUTIONS GROUP Names and addresses of appropriate facilities in which to start a group may be found in a city of state directory. Contact can be made with directors, social workers, alcoholism counselors and court personnel. Often the first contact at an institution is with a social worker of alcoholism counselor who serves as an intermediary between Al-Anon and the director of the institution. If an AA group is established at the facility, it is desirable to cooperate with the AA sponsor. ¨ Write a brief letter to the institution explaining how the Al-Anon program works. ¨ Enclose some Al-Anon and Alateen Conference-Approved Literature (CAL). ¨ Follow up by calling for a personal interview to further discuss the Al-Anon program and the possibility of putting up posters, leaving literature, or forming a group. ¨ Explain the principles of the Al-Anon program as briefly as possible and how Al-Anon and/or Alateen have helped you and your family. Respect the time of the professional. ¨ Explain the general format of the meetings. ¨ Offer to present a "meeting on wheels." ¨ Inform the professional that Al-Anon/Alateen speakers are also available upon request. ¨ Provide Conference-Approved Literature. Leave literature, catalogs, and order blanks for staff, patients, and residents. ¨ Mention that experience has shown the alcoholic's recovery is usually more successful when family members attend Al-Anon/Alateen meetings. ¨ Explain anonymity. HOW FUNDS ARE RAISED Many people attending meetings at an institution may be experiencing serious financial difficulty. For this reason, those responsible for the group decide if a collection should be taken. If a collection is not taken, groups in the surrounding districts or the information service should be encouraged to help with the cost of literature and other expenses. Tradition Seven states that we are fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. There are fund-raising ideas that have been used successfully by many institutions committees and Al-Anon/Alateen groups, (e.g., dinners, round robin meetings, workshops, etc.) suggested in the Service Manual. FAMILIES WITH RELATED PROBLEMS Members of families affected by problems other than alcoholism often come to Al-Anon seeking help. They can be informed of other organizations similar to ours that have sprung up and have based their program on AA's Twelve Steps. SPEAKING BEFORE PROFESSIONALS ¨ Any member who has been attending Al-Anon/Alateen meetings long enough to understand the Twelve-Steps and Twelve Traditions and tries to live by them, should be encouraged to talk publicly and answer questions from the audience. Eloquence is not essential; sincerity and simplicity are. ¨ Concentrate on yourself, not the alcoholic or others. Give a brief description of circumstances that led you to Al-Anon/Alateen. ¨ Make it clear that you are expressing your own views and not necessarily those of Al-Anon as a whole. ¨ Preserve anonymity by protecting the identity of all Al-Anon, Alateen, and AA members. Note:
See CPC Guidelines (G-29) and The Best of Public Outreach Reprinted with permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA. |