Treatment Facilities Committee

The Area 72 Treatment Facilities Committee has one purpose:  To help AA members carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous into Treatment Facilities, and help "Bridge The Gap" between Facilities and AA.

If you are sober and have a desire to serve, we need your help!

When anyone anywhere reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there.
And for that... I AM RESPONSIBLE. 

What We Do

Treatment facilities committees are formed to coordinate the work of individual AA. members and groups who are interested in carrying our message of recovery to alcoholics in treatment facilities, and to set up means of “bridging the gap” from the facility to an AA. group in the individual’s community.

A treatment facilities committee may function within the structure of a general service committee on the area or district level or it may serve within the structure of a central office/Intergroup. Prior to forming these committees, this Twelfth Step work is sometimes handled by an individual group or member. As AA groups grow in number in a community, experience suggests that a committee works more effectively.

In some parts of the country, AA's interested in carrying the message into treatment and corrections facilities work together on Hospitals and Institutions committees independent of, but in cooperation with, general service and Intergroup committees. This structure also works well-especially in areas where lines of communication between the various service entities remain open. 1

Why AA Members Carry the Message Into Treatment Facilities

Since it’s beginning in 1935, the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous has cooperated with treatment facilities. Bill W. himself was a product of a treatment facility-Towns Hospital in New York City. After he had finally put together several months of sobriety, Bill returned to Towns to try to work with other alcoholics. This was the beginning of AA’s Twelfth Step work in hospitals. After he sobered up, Dr. Bob, a surgeon, realized the need for an alcoholism ward at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, where he worked. With the loving assistance and dedication of Sister Ignatia, Dr. Bob established a ward for alcoholics; together, they reached over 5,000 alcoholics.

The principle of carrying the AA message to other alcoholics was fundamental to the recovery and continued sobriety of AA’s co-founders and early AA members. Today, through the practice of this principle-the Twelfth Step-AA has grown and the AA message has been carried around the world. AA's who carry the message into treatment facilities continue to follow the path for sobriety laid out by AA’s co­founders. These AA's help alcoholics in treatment recover through the AA program and find happy, useful, sober lives. 2

Some Suggested Activities for T.F. Committees

  1. Study Treatment Facilities Workbook and related materials.

  2. Purchase Treatment Facilities Workbooks for all committee members.

  3. Send a list of Treatment Facilities meetings to all DCM’s and to local Intergroup/Central Offices.

  4. Invite Correctional Facilities, Cooperation With the Professional Community, and Public Information Committee liaisons to Treatment Facilities committee meetings.

  5. Make presentations to three Treatment Facilities and offer follow-up presentations every four months to accommodate staff changes.

  6. Set up Treatment Facilities literature displays in district meetings, area meetings, seminars, conventions, etc.

  7. Create a local Treatment Facilities presentation based on the Treatment Facilities Workbook and local experience, i.e., for psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, youth non-correctional facilities, shelters, halfway houses.

  8. Create a Temporary Contact (Bridging the Gap) program.

  9. Contact three nursing homes to offer AA presentations or meetings.

  10. Contact three psychiatric hospitals to offer AA presentations or meetings.

  11. Fight apathy within the Fellowship, find a co-chair and interested people in order to achieve all the above.

  12. Write to the General Service Office with additional suggestions for this list.

This list is intended as a committee starting point only. It is our experience that if a committee group conscience selects a single project and follows it through to completion, there is a great sense of unity and love and service shared by all committee members. For further experience, please review the Treatment Facilities Workbook, talk to experienced members in the area and remember that our first responsibility is to the traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. 3

Temporary Contact Programs to “Bridge the Gap” Between Treatment and AA

Simply put, a temporary contact is an AA member who works with clients who are being discharged from treatment facilities and helps them bridge the gap to AA in the local community.

The pamphlet “Bridging the gap” was developed to provide information to AA members about temporary contact programs. It contains general guidelines and suggestions for temporary contacts and includes important points to remember. 

Bridging the Gap through temporary contact programs may be handled differently in various parts of the U.S. and Canada. In some places, this service may be under the auspices of the Area Treatment Facilities Committee or a Hospitals and Institutions Committee. Some areas have formed “Bridge the Gap” Committees while others have a Temporary Contact Service as a committee separate from Treatment Facilities or H&I.

In many places, AA committees inform treatment facilities about the temporary contact service and are given opportunities to present information directly to clients. Then it is up to the client to let AA know if he or she wishes to have a temporary contact upon discharge. Some temporary contact services accept request for temporary contacts from either treatment professionals or clients.

At least one area has produced cards describing their contact service. The cards are distributed to treatment facilities and the professional staff gives the cards to clients who may then initiate contact.4

To get more info, or to request a "Bridge the Gap" contact, send an E-mail to treatbridge@area72aa.org - either for more information, or if you need to request a "Bridge the Gap" contact.

AA Guidelines on Treatment Facilities Committees published by GSO.

Downloadable PDF Treatment Committee Forms

Area/District ZIP Code Directory - by City & District

For More Information

Send an email to the Chair of our Area Treatment Committee at treatment@area72aa.org. He or she can help you get started—and might even be able to introduce you to people in your district already doing this work.

You are welcome to attend any Area Committee event.
Click here to jump to the Events Calendar and see what’s going on.

 

1 Reprinted from AA Guidelines, Treatment Facility Guidelines, MG-14 page 1, with permission of AA World Services, Inc.

2 Reprinted from Treatment Facility Workbook,  page 3, with permission of AA World Services, Inc.

3 Reprinted from Treatment Facility Workbook,  page 6, with permission of AA World Services, Inc.

4 Reprinted from Treatment Facility Workbook,  page 15, with permission of AA World Services, Inc.

© Copyright 2002-2006  Western Washington Area 72. All Rights Reserved  This site is not endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. It is provided in an effort to reach out to the alcoholic who still suffers.  Alcoholics Anonymous®, A.A.® and The Big Book® are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.