Rehabilitation of Men and Women Suffering from Addiction

Teen Challenge Ireland Ltd (TCI) is a not-for-profit organisation, a registered charity (CHY11596), a company limited by Guarantee and a locally controlled and managed Irish organisation with strong governance.

Click here to see a full feature episode from RTE’s “Would You Believe” on Tiglin  (Note: choose November 27th episode)

Our Mission Statement & Our Values: To provide each individual in our care with an effective and comprehensive faith-based solution to life-controlling drug and alcohol problems in order to become productive members of society. Teen Challenge strives to help the ‘whole person’ not just the substance abuse by addressing family relationships, work attitudes, self image, peer pressure, how people’s lives are de-railed, community relationships and a variety of other life skills.

Our Client Profile & Name: Our client base (whom we refer to as students) comprise males and females, aged from 18 to 50 (mostly 20 to 35), usually with multiple addictions (involving a range of drugs and/or alcohol), physical, psychological and emotional health issues, poverty and educational deprivation, and often with seriously negative personal histories of interpersonal, family, community and social conflict. Our name has become a misnomer, as our client base has only a tiny proportion of people of 18 and 19 years old. For this reason, the Board is currently considering re-branding in the very near future.

Our History: Teen Challenge opened a rehabilitation centre for women in Newbridge, Co. Kildare in 2003 / 2004 with a 6-bed capacity. The organisation purchased the former Adventure Centre at Tiglin, Ashford, Co. Wicklow and opened a men’s rehabiliation centre with a 20 bed capacity in 2008. In February 2010 TCI purchased the adjoining but dilapitated former An Óige Youth Hostel on 1.2 Acres. A Government Grant of €160,000 in late 2010 enabled some refurbishment works including re-roofing of the hostel and some out buildings. The project is not complete yet. Once this An Óige Youth Hostel section is fully upgraded we will relocate the women’s home from Newbridge to this section of the Tiglin Campus. This relocation onto one campus will facilitate not just better facilities for the women students but improved resource utilisation, some cost cutting and more integrated management of the overall organisation.

Our Programme: The programme is based in a residential community rehabilitation facility and is centred on 14 separate education and life skills training modules. The time structure of the programme is 5 phases including a “re-entry to society” phase outside our residential centre. The programme is Drug Free, Non Smoking and 16 Month Residential. Entry is by interview and applicants must get Medical clearance from the programme’s Medical Director. The programme includes lectures, character development, relational guidance, social skills, on-site work and recreation. To emphasise the educational / personal change and development aspect of the program TCI refers to its residents as ‘students’. The student is tutored in developing positive attitudes, trustworthiness, concern for others and a strong sense of personal and social responsibility. In reference to the latter, our students, for example, help with the local tidy town’s community effort in nearby Ashford, Co. Wicklow. Each student is involved in academics and work training. We also provide one-to-one counselling every week. Multiple individual sessions are provided as well as group counselling through a team of four counsellors.

Our Results: A visit to the Tiglin Campus is a truly eye-opening experience. As they advance through the programme, notwithstanding a difficult start, most of the students radiate a newly found sense of peace, calm, order and a family / fun atmosphere. The programme is highly structured and demands self-discipline, tenacity and perseverance. Peer influence is an element in the overall therapeutic approach both in terms of empathy and inspiration.

Our perception is that our men’s programme is more successful. Our women’s programme is in the course of redesign in order to make it more attractive to women who have dependent children. Naturally, it can be difficult to get women with children to commit to a long programme. Thus the need for piloting a redesigned shorter programme for women has become apparent. Our long term ambition is to have a women’s facility that will cater for mothers and children living-in with all being cared
for.

Many students who complete the programme go on to lead a fruitful life contributing to their own families and to society as a whole. Some re-enter the Education system while others find a direct pathway into the work force through direct employment, FAS CE schemes and apprenticeships.

Our Staff: Employment is 12.5 full time equivalent staff plus 4.5 non-payroll workers (volunteer interns / CE Scheme) and the support of 30-50 volunteers especially on fund raising activities. A high proportion of our staff have a vocational calling to this work. Most of them have addiction studies or counselling qualifications already acquired or in the process of being obtained. A few are former addicts who have a great empathy and understanding of those coming to and through the programme. We also have a contractual arrangement (daily rate) with a psychologist who has a level of commitment beyond the monetary benefit she enjoys to the charity and its students. “What helps you most in your role as Medical Director of Tiglin Rehabilitation Centre?” was a question asked by a Consultant undertaking a review of TCI. In response Dr. John Latham, a Director of TCI and an inner city medical practioner, said “The front line staff of TCI are great people to work with and I’m helped by that. Their communication skills and calm are great assets. I am confident in their competence.”

Our Governance (including Medical): Our Governance is excellent for a charity of our size with a board of diversified skills including the medical and financial areas. Our Chairman is a successful local businessman; other directors include a Medical Doctor, a female Secondary School Teacher, a retired Company Secretary of a large insurance group (also a chartered accountant), a retired banking consultant. The company secretary of TCI is also aqualified accountant.

We see clinical governance as critical to maintaining and improving safety and quality of care of our students. In this regard Dr. Latham (a Dublin Inner-City Medical Practitioner with vast experience in dealing with drug addiction), also a member of our Board, sees each student prior to admission. Students also attend their own doctors locally near the centres in Ashford and Newbridge as necessary during the programme. All prescribed medication is held securely by staff and administered to students as prescribed and under staff supervision. A team of three (counsellor / psychologist / psychotherapist) is led by a Counselling Psychologist, Ms. Gillian McCutcheon, BA Psych. (Hons.), Dip. Counselling, M.Sc. Coun. Psych. Ms. McCutcheon is engaged on contract and paid a daily rate for her services. Ms. McCutcheon is a provider of contractual services to the HSE under National Counseling Services and Child & Adolescent Psychological Services.

The Board meets bi-monthly and more frequently when necessary. Reports are provided by the two Centre Managers on the progress, care and overall well-being of students. Our Counselling Psychologist also regularly reports directly (and independently of management) to the Chairman and to the full Board on a regular basis. Monthly financial reports and management accounts are prepared within two weeks of month end giving income and expenditure details for each centre. Operating costs are under constant scrutiny and, of necessity, we benefit from significant donations of food from a major supermarket chain and donations of a wide range of gifts in-kind. Since 2008 we have been going through an ongoing process of rejuvenating and strengthening our Board. We see the need for a Chief Executive, reporting directly to the Board, to support our two centre managers in the ongoing operations and development of the organization. This is a need that cannot be met in the short run and in current financial situation. Indeed there is a “chicken and egg dimension” to the CEO and fund raising issues. In the interim we benefit from a Chairman who is effectively and unpaid Executive Chairman. Directors regularly call to the centres.

Our Funding: Our current funding is 38% State and 62% donations from the public. Any prolonged delays in grants from government agencies (HSE and ECRDTF) would threaten our very future. However, our progress in building what we have built over the past 7 years (the last 3 years in particular) provides great confidence in our prospects to grow and to develop our rehabilitation capability and capacity into the future. We have major assets in our Tiglin Campus and its location (set in the middle of a 3,000 acre Coillte managed forest), in our Board, our Psychologist / Counsellors, our Care Management and Staff. We have currently 28 rehabilitation beds. This number will grow to 35 in the immediate term when current refurbishment is completed and our Tiglin campus houses an expanded men’s centre and an expanded and relocated women’s centre. In addition we have 11 re-entry beds in the community.

Conclusion: We openly welcome on-site visits to our Tiglin Campus to meet Board members, Management, Staff and especially our Students. Appointments can be arranged through our Chairman, Mr. Aubrey McCarthy.
Mr. McCarthy is contactable on:
Phone: +353 (85) 253 6537
E-Mail: chairman@teenchallenge.ie

Click here to see a full feature episode from RTE’s “Would You Believe” on Tiglin  (Note: choose November 27th episode)