Volunteer
Pre?Release Contact Person Form
HOW A.A.s CARRY THE MESSAGE TO
ALCOHOLICS IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIESThe
material in these Guidelines has come from the experience and “growing pains”
of A.A. correctional facilities committees. We are privileged to share it with
A.A.s throughout the United States and Canada who are carrying our message
behind the walls.
PURPOSEThe
purpose of a correctional facilities committee is to coordinate the work of
individual A.A. members and groups who are interested in carrying our message
of recovery to alcoholics behind the walls, and to set up means of smoothing
the way from the facility to the larger A.A. community through prerelease
contacts.A
correctional facilities committee may function within the structure of a
General Service Conference area committee or a central office (intergroup). In
A.A.’s early years, prison Twelfth Step work was usually done by an individual
group or an individual member. As A.A. has grown, however, it seems that a
committee formed within the A.A. service structure works more effectively.Prior to
1977, services to correctional and treatment facilities were provided under
the umbrella of the Institutions Committee. Because of rapid growth, the 1977
General Service Conference voted to dissolve its Institutions Committee and
two new committees, one on correctional facilities and one on treatment
facilities, were formed. This division was created to provide better service
to groups and meetings in both kinds of facilities.
HOW TO GET STARTEDPerhaps
the first step would be to contact your general service area committee or
local intergroup (central office) and, if there is an existing correctional
facilities committee, they will connect you to the committee chairperson.
Local A.A. groups and members should be given the opportunity of sharing in
and doing correctional facility Twelfth Step work. It has proved a good idea
to have members from many groups serve on this committee. If a correctional
facility committee does not exist in your area, then you may wish to form one.
Thus, a chairperson is elected, and plans are worked out so that each
correctional facility group and correctional facility in the area will be
assured of A.A. help. The chairperson of the correctional facilities committee
often participates within the area general service committee or intergroup
steering committee. These committees convene every month to make assignments
and handle other related business. The chairperson relays information from
meetings of the Conference Committee on Correctional Facilities, held during
the annual General Service Conference, and shares Conference thinking and
experience on A.A. in correctional facilities.If you are
a new committee, the next step would be to list your correctional committee
with the General Service Office in New York. Your chairperson will be put on a
mailing list and receive a Correctional Facilities Workbook and other service
literature and material.The
Correctional Facilities Workbook is a good basic tool. It contains information
on how to do correctional facilities work, background information, guide
letters, and a selection of pamphlets, leaflets, etc. If your area already has
a functioning committee, the workbook may provide new ideas or new ways of
implementing old ideas. If your committee is just getting off the ground, the
workbook will help you find effective ways of getting organized.
RELATIONSHIP TO A.A. IN THE AREA OR DISTRICTAs in all
A.A. activity, communication of needs and progress is all important. Such
communication can be maintained through group representatives at
intergroup/central office or general service area meetings, through area or
intergroup newsletters, and by direct contact by committee members at regular
A.A. meetings.
Communication also takes place at special dinners where correctional
facilities committees invite others to attend; regular correctional facilities
workshops at area conferences (in a few areas, inmates are allowed to attend
these conferences with their group advisers) and during monthly meetings of
these committees (rotated within an area) to which all A.A.s are invited.
BASIC FUNCTIONS OF C.F. COMMITTEESThe basic
functions of correctional facilities committees are elaborated on in the
Correctional Facilities Workbook. However, here are highlights of major
headings.
Correctional facility committees, when allowed to do so, take A.A. meetings
into facilities within their area. It encourages “outside” group participation
in this kind of Twelfth Step work. In some areas, each group has a group
correctional facilities representative. It provides a liaison between the
correctional facilities groups and meetings and groups on the outside, and
also coordinates prerelease contact.The
relationship with prison authorities is discussed in the workbook to ensure a
positive reciprocal working relationship with administrators and staff. One
such suggestion is that A.A.s in this Twelfth Step work seek to understand,
respect, and adhere to all correctional facilities regulations.The
workbook also goes into detail about prison A.A. meetings. It suggests
different ways to shoulder responsibility for meetings and speakers.Most
committees find that adequate literature supplies are essential in a
correctional facility group or meeting. Supplies are financed and obtained in
several ways: Donated by local intergroup or general service committee;
donated by members of the committee; purchased with individual contributions;
provided by groups through their correctional facilities representatives.Special
funds: Buck of the Month Club, where members contribute, and funds are used
for correctional facilities literature; special meetings or dinners, at which
a collection is taken; special cans at regular meetings, marked “For
Correctional Facilities Literature.”Note:
Correctional Facilities Discount Packages are available from G.S.O.
SPONSORSHIPExperience
shows that even though an inmate may have been participating in a group or
meeting in a correctional facility, there is anxiety about the transition to a
regular A.A. group on the outside. With the constant reminder that A.A. has
only sobriety to offer, many committees do try to provide some additional
personal contact, so this transition period can be made easier.Pre-parole
activity is encouraged in some areas, and many committees work closely with
parole officers.Sometimes,
inmates are allowed to attend outside meetings in advance of their parole.
Through continual contact with parole officers, the committee can be given
vital statistics on all parolees coming into and leaving the area. The
parolees are then contacted immediately on arrival, and those going elsewhere
are given contacts at their destinations through the A.A. Directories.The
contact chairperson or group sponsor meets the inmate on release. Sponsorship
being the personal thing that it is, many areas have found it helpful to have
inmates select their own sponsors once contact with the outside has been made.
The initial contacts do not necessarily continue as sponsors, but do serve as
a vital link between the prison and the outside A.A. group.
NEWSLETTERSharing
From Behind the Walls is a one-page newsletter for A.A. members on the
inside. It reflects anonymous sharing from inmate letters sent to G.S.O. This
newsletter is published quarterly and included in letters sent out by G.S.O.
to inmates. It is available upon request for use in A.A. correctional service.
RELATIONSHIP TO G.S.O.G.S.O.
Iists correctional facilities chairpersons and committee members (U.S. and
Canada). The people on this mailing list are sent the following material:1.
Box 4-5-9 — every two months.
2. Correctional Facilities Workbook (Chairperson).
3. Sharing From Behind the Walls newsletter.
CORRESPONDENCE SERVICEThe
Corrections Correspondence Service, coordinated through G.S.O., offers an
opportunity for A.A.s on the “outside” to share experience, strength, and hope
through letters with fellow members. Helpful guidelines for this service are
provided to both “inside” and “outside” A.A.s. You may write to G.S.O. to
become a part of this service.An
attractive flyer (F-26) describing this service is available from G.S.O. to
place in group literature racks.Please
keep in touch with us, so that we may share your activities in Box 4-5-9
and add your experience to our files, to help others who are involved in
this rewarding area of service.from “A.A. Guidelines/Correctional
Facilities Committees”
