PROGRAM GUIDELINE IAEC STANDARDS

1400. Article 4. Program Guidelines

1401.SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS.

a.Social Setting Detoxification: With a hospital for adequate medical backup, detoxification is provided to alcoholics and drug addicts in a warm, calm, supportive, home-like environment within which a person can recover from the effects of intoxication and make plans for the future. The two primary functions of the program are:

1. Assistance during recovery from the effects of intoxication.
2. Orientation to community recovery resources leading to referral and contact with the resource of choice.
b. Primary Recovery: The Primary Program provides short-term, intensive, evaluative, and introductory efforts. Orientation is offered either within the home or in cooperation with external programs that will provide a full-time intensive introduction to the recovery process.
c. Supportive Recovery Program: Services and programs are provided to recovering alcoholics and drug addicts in a transitional stage to facilitate improvement of lifestyles an alleviate the need for alcohol and other drugs. Program assist personal recovery and include social interaction tools such as: individual and peer group education sessions, recreation programs, and personal recovery planning. Persons are also assisted in obtaining, vocational employment training and other services.
d. Long Term Residency: This service is provided for alcoholics and drug addicts who require more time to assume self-sustained recovery. Residents are assisted in obtaining medical, dental, social services. It also offers a structured life-adjustment and socialization program. Self-reliance and self-government are encouraged to the greatest possible extent. Work, recreation, and social activities are structured to expand personal potential. Medical and social services are obtained outside the facility. Whenever possible residents should be encouraged to make the transition to home or cooperative living arrangements. Length of stay is indeterminate.
e. Cooperative Living: Residents receiving this service have made positive life adjustments and are capable of sustaining a cooperative living arrangement. Persons must have a continuing income. Further recovery support may be obtained outside the facility (A.A., church, social clubs, etc.).
f. Non-residential services: Provide recovery opportunities for individuals and their families, increase community awareness about alcohol and drug problems and educate community groups and agencies.

These centers will, in a meaningful way, provide for the service seeker a place to be comfortable and a feeling of belonging somewhere.

An alcohol and drug-free environment is available to individuals with needs of attaining or maintaining sobriety.
Services and programs are provided to alcoholics and drug addicts and their families who reside in the community and who are in need of support education and referral. The non-residential program services address alcohol and or drug relayed problems at the individual, family and community level.

1402. RECOVERY HOME/HALFWAY HOUSE PROGRAM

a. The Recovery Home/Halfway House Program is an experiential environment where a variety of program activities are organized to support the natural process of recovery. Some of the activities are educational and analytical in nature focusing on internal realities and awareness of the stages of recovery. Others are reality-orientated tasks, work assignments and group involvements that offer opportunities for direct experiential learning and determine the nature of group interaction.
This experiential knowledge is the basis of program authority. In the recovery home/halfway house the recovery person learns by “doing” recovering rather than by receiving help or “treatment”.
b. In the home the learning relationship is between the person and the program, as opposed to between the person and a “counselor”. Rather than changing the individual (case management) the home staff manages the environment and provides tools in order to maximize recovery opportunities for individuals and serve as positive role models.
c. In the reciprocal learning process everybody both gives and receives help; the resident is at the same time consumer and provider of services.
d. The fundamental framework for the program is the dynamics and the values of the self-help movement as expressed in the wisdom of the A.A. group. Along these lines the recovery home/halfway house program focuses on the experience of surrendering and transformation of belief systems as the key to successful recovery.
e. The program also recognizes that alcoholism and drug addiction is part of a reciprocal relationship between individual and the social context. Therefore, changes at the level of the individual are seen as able to affect the alcoholism and drug addiction at the level of society, and vice versa.

1403. RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT. It is recommended that self-worth be promoted by involving the resident in home operation, household chores, and general duties of the home, Resident involvement must be considered as part of the recovery home/halfway house program.

The resident must be encouraged to be a member of the home community with responsibility to this community. Resident involvement entails active participation with his/her new reference group as well as increased responsibility for making program decisions. This involvement during primary recovery period may be limited to performing housekeeping or simple maintenance chores. As a resident’s recovery progresses, additional opportunities may include meal and recreation planning, direction of renovation projects, participation in community activities, or in policy decisions.

A progression schedule should be developed outlining residents' responsibilities and opportunities for growth consistent with an individual’s recovery progress. The formation of a resident council is encouraged. A council provides a method or residents to become involved in and responsible for decisions affecting their lives in the recovery program.

Resident involvement must be viewed as an investment in the program rather than an imposition.

1404. SOCIAL, RECREATION AND SPIRITUAL ACTIVITIES.

Social model alcohol and drug programs shall make provisions for social, recreation, and spiritual activities in accordance with the interests and abilities of participants, including but not limited to the following:

a. Participants shall be encouraged to join with other members of the program in various leisure-time activities designed to promote social relationships.
b. Participants, wherever possible, shall be encouraged to engage in community activities.
c. Programs should make spiritual resources available:
Attendance in religious services or A.A. or other “self-help” meetings held in the program shall be on a completely voluntary basis, unless other wised specifically agreed in the participant agreement.

1405. COMMUNITY BASE.

A Social model alcohol or other drug program must provide for community input and viable relations with agencies and groups within the general community. Programs should encourage staff, board members or other qualified persons to give informational talks to interested service clubs and other groups. The social model alcohol or other drug programs is to be considered part of the community’s response to alcoholism and drug addiction.

1406. USE OF COMMUNITY SERVICES.

A social model alcohol and other drug program should be thought of as part of a network of services provided in the community. Therefore, the social model alcohol and other drug program should use all available existing community service resources to enhance its program, rather than duplicate them within the program.

Participants should be encouraged and aided in seeking needed medical care, social services family, marital, vocational, and legal counseling, psychiatric evaluation and treatment in the community.

1407. COMPLEMENTARY SERVICES.

Social model alcohol and other drug programs provide information and referral services to the community. Some residential social model alcohol and other drug programs function as alcoholism and or drug addiction service centers with full programs for non-residents. The number of the following services and programs may be provided by an individual social model alcohol and other drug program depends on the capability within the program and the needs of the community.

a. Evaluation and Referral: This is a non-residential function, which assists the alcoholic or drug addict or the family member who seeks help to assess needs and obtain linkage for recovery services.
b. Recovery Orientation Program: This service consists of education for the alcoholic and drug addict on recovery resources. Many social model alcohol and other drug programs have residents and non-residents in the same orientation program.
c. Advocacy Program: A service that helps the alcoholic or drug addict obtain fair and equal treatment from social service agencies, medical facilities, and mental health centers which serve the area population. Advocacy programs provide informational services for alcoholics, drug addicts and their families.
d. Social Interaction Program: A social interaction program is designed to provide new patterns of social action with in a community for the recovering alcoholic or drug addict population. The program will include all levels of social interaction in non-drinking, drug-free environments, parties, dinners, dances, etc. Recovery homes in some instances provide this service in the community in coordination with A.A. groups, Alano clubs, fellowships and Alumni groups.
e. Community Education Program: This program is designed to inform the public of the abuse potential of alcohol and other drugs, the symptoms of alcohol and o drug related problems in various stages; available community resources; and to effect change in community attitudes toward alcoholism, drug addiction and alcohol and other drug use. This program will provide speakers for church groups, agencies, schools, service clubs, community organizations, ect. Educational programs specifically designed to meet the needs of the courts can also be initiate and provided by expanded program staff. This will allow the educational contacts to be directly related to services.
f. Professional Education: This program is designed to educate doctors, nurses, social workers, rehabilitation counselors, employment counselors, teachers, etc., concerning the true nature of alcohol and drug problems and concerning effective means of communicating with persons who need help.

1408. FOLLOW-THROUGH.

The program staff should make continuous efforts to maintain contact with former participants. Such contact aids he continued social, vocational, and general life adjustment of the participants.

Among the ways a program can maintain contact with former participants are the following:

Alumni Associations.
Circulating a newsletter.
Sponsoring annual or semi-annual get-togethers or outing.
Using former participants as program volunteers.
Mail and phone contacts.