23 September 1999 Edition
Aftercare not afterthought
By Michael Pierse
So, as an addict you've managed to struggle through years of subsistence living, anguish, self-loathing and possibly jail. Your life has been controlled by heroin, but now you've finally begun to reclaim it. Now that you're in recovery, what facilities are there to integrate you back into society and keep your life on track?
For the vast majority of Irish addicts, the answer to this question is nothing. There is a marked absence of any facilities in Ireland which can give an addict hope. For them, the prospect of a fair standard of living may seem fantastical. The idea of aftercare seems to elude government policies and may become an afterthought to their myopic anti-drugs strategies.
However, for 13 brave apostles of the Aftercare Recovery Group (ARG) in Dublin's north inner city, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The ARG, which is due to hold its official launch next Thursday, 30 September, ``will be the catalyst for projects of its type throughout Ireland''. So says local Sinn Féin councillor Christy Burke.
The concept behind ARG was developed by a group of local community activists who believed that something more than methadone treatment was needed to attract people away from their addiction. ``The Eastern Health Board or the Department of Health had absolutely no provisions for rehab,'' says Burke. ``Addicts in recovery have to face ruthless, greedy drug dealers every day whose business it is to drag them further into their clutches. It was obvious to all the community representatives that a structure would have to be put in place.''
``Last December, we identified 13 people in the area who were in acute need of these facilities,'' says Burke. ``We then went around with begging bowls. Christmas week the Eastern Health Board came on board and subsequent to several meetings with the Taoiseach, he agreed some funding. FAS have also been very helpful. Dermot Aherne, of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs has thus far failed to allocate funding for the programme.''
Angela Glen, a spokesperson for the ARG, told An Phoblacht just why this programme is so unique. ``We had no preconceived ideas when we put the project together,'' she said. ``The project applies a very consultative process - we don't just decide programmes in advance.'' This is one of the more unorthodox policies of the organisation, considering that most community projects rely on complicated planning proposals for the benefit of maximising statutory funding.''Once a month, project participants have the oportunity to come back and tell us what they'd like to see.''
Another unusual and novel aspect of the programme is that it is a ``Drugs Free'' course in the most literal sense. Rather than attempting to wean addicts slowly and most often agonisingly off drugs, the ARG has a blanket ban on any of its participants using any drug whatsoever. No methadone, no alcohol - cold turkey. This truly is unique.
``Initially, what we thought was that we would begin a programme of career guidance counselling; there's an enormous amount of planning involved in that. Year Two of the course, although we are still planning it, will be likely to focus on career guidance counselling,'' says Angela.
All of the project workers are on Community Employment schemes, which PD leader Mary Harney has pledged to downscale by 10,000 places. However Angela is adamant that they will not be deflected from their objectives. ``The commitment of the team here is that there will be a project, and it will be full,'' she confirms.
The project comprises courses at present which are of a deeply psychological and personal nature. ``Alternative management plays a big part - learning about anger and how to direct it,'' Angela explains. ``Anger only becomes a problem for people when it's not expressed properly. To say that it is a bad thing is wrong - a certain anger is justified. Where you direct it is the important thing.
``There are very practical benefits to the parenting course. Like many aspects of our project, it has a dual purpose in that these courses can be used for personal parenting skills and also to get people a job in that field.
``The pressures and stresses of current day living have robbed adults of time with their children, sometimes because people are so tired and so busy. Somewhere, I feel, along the road in our society, the needs of children have become almost secondary. Children are entitled to care in their own right. I think that children are also entitled to care because their parents need to work''.
Another interesting course explores the benefits of aromatherapy, and participants are also given the opportunity to explore areas of culture and society from which, because of their backgrounds, they have been thus far excluded. ``Tours of cultural centres such as art galleries and music halls of fame are about developing their social awareness. Awareness of rights to which they are entitled is also important,'' says Angela.
``Certain areas in Dublin are synonymous with drugs but the same areas are not synonymous with drug-free living,'' Angela observes of soundbite media attention and the effects of this. ``Sensationalism sells newsprint. But drugs workers are made of sterner stuff than to allow their work to be derailed by assumptions that find their way into the newspapers. Assumptive analysis that categorises people - vacuum-packed for social consumption.''
Last Friday the group of participants met. ``They conveyed that they feel comfortable and secure as a result of this programme and appeal to the powers that be to increase funding,'' Christy Burke reports.
Angela would like to see this type of approach extended to other areas to tackle the difficulties faced by recovering addicts. ``People in recovery are expected to come along and engage in services from which they have been excluded for many years. After God knows how long, they come out into a society that doesn't offer them anything.''
So, as an addict you've managed to struggle through years of subsistence living, anguish, self-loathing and possibly jail. Your life has been controlled by heroin, but now you've finally begun to reclaim it. Now that you're in recovery, what facilities are there to integrate you back into society and keep your life on track?
For the vast majority of Irish addicts, the answer to this question is nothing. There is a marked absence of any facilities in Ireland which can give an addict hope. For them, the prospect of a fair standard of living may seem fantastical. The idea of aftercare seems to elude government policies and may become an afterthought to their myopic anti-drugs strategies.
However, for 13 brave apostles of the Aftercare Recovery Group (ARG) in Dublin's north inner city, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The ARG, which is due to hold its official launch next Thursday, 30 September, ``will be the catalyst for projects of its type throughout Ireland''. So says local Sinn Féin councillor Christy Burke.
The concept behind ARG was developed by a group of local community activists who believed that something more than methadone treatment was needed to attract people away from their addiction. ``The Eastern Health Board or the Department of Health had absolutely no provisions for rehab,'' says Burke. ``Addicts in recovery have to face ruthless, greedy drug dealers every day whose business it is to drag them further into their clutches. It was obvious to all the community representatives that a structure would have to be put in place.''
``Last December, we identified 13 people in the area who were in acute need of these facilities,'' says Burke. ``We then went around with begging bowls. Christmas week the Eastern Health Board came on board and subsequent to several meetings with the Taoiseach, he agreed some funding. FAS have also been very helpful. Dermot Aherne, of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs has thus far failed to allocate funding for the programme.''
Angela Glen, a spokesperson for the ARG, told An Phoblacht just why this programme is so unique. ``We had no preconceived ideas when we put the project together,'' she said. ``The project applies a very consultative process - we don't just decide programmes in advance.'' This is one of the more unorthodox policies of the organisation, considering that most community projects rely on complicated planning proposals for the benefit of maximising statutory funding.''Once a month, project participants have the oportunity to come back and tell us what they'd like to see.''
Another unusual and novel aspect of the programme is that it is a ``Drugs Free'' course in the most literal sense. Rather than attempting to wean addicts slowly and most often agonisingly off drugs, the ARG has a blanket ban on any of its participants using any drug whatsoever. No methadone, no alcohol - cold turkey. This truly is unique.
``Initially, what we thought was that we would begin a programme of career guidance counselling; there's an enormous amount of planning involved in that. Year Two of the course, although we are still planning it, will be likely to focus on career guidance counselling,'' says Angela.
All of the project workers are on Community Employment schemes, which PD leader Mary Harney has pledged to downscale by 10,000 places. However Angela is adamant that they will not be deflected from their objectives. ``The commitment of the team here is that there will be a project, and it will be full,'' she confirms.
The project comprises courses at present which are of a deeply psychological and personal nature. ``Alternative management plays a big part - learning about anger and how to direct it,'' Angela explains. ``Anger only becomes a problem for people when it's not expressed properly. To say that it is a bad thing is wrong - a certain anger is justified. Where you direct it is the important thing.
``There are very practical benefits to the parenting course. Like many aspects of our project, it has a dual purpose in that these courses can be used for personal parenting skills and also to get people a job in that field.
``The pressures and stresses of current day living have robbed adults of time with their children, sometimes because people are so tired and so busy. Somewhere, I feel, along the road in our society, the needs of children have become almost secondary. Children are entitled to care in their own right. I think that children are also entitled to care because their parents need to work''.
Another interesting course explores the benefits of aromatherapy, and participants are also given the opportunity to explore areas of culture and society from which, because of their backgrounds, they have been thus far excluded. ``Tours of cultural centres such as art galleries and music halls of fame are about developing their social awareness. Awareness of rights to which they are entitled is also important,'' says Angela.
``Certain areas in Dublin are synonymous with drugs but the same areas are not synonymous with drug-free living,'' Angela observes of soundbite media attention and the effects of this. ``Sensationalism sells newsprint. But drugs workers are made of sterner stuff than to allow their work to be derailed by assumptions that find their way into the newspapers. Assumptive analysis that categorises people - vacuum-packed for social consumption.''
Last Friday the group of participants met. ``They conveyed that they feel comfortable and secure as a result of this programme and appeal to the powers that be to increase funding,'' Christy Burke reports.
Angela would like to see this type of approach extended to other areas to tackle the difficulties faced by recovering addicts. ``People in recovery are expected to come along and engage in services from which they have been excluded for many years. After God knows how long, they come out into a society that doesn't offer them anything.''