Welcome to Area B Treatment Facilities & Special Access Service (TFT)
Please Note: The TFT Service Group is currently in recess – Please email chair@aaareaber.org.au for more information
It must never be forgotten that the purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous is to sober up alcoholics. There is no religious or spiritual requirement for membership. No demands are made on anyone. An experience is offered which members may accept or reject. That is up to them.
The Area B Treatment Facilities and Special Access team (TFT) assists Groups, District and individual AA members to carry the AA message into Treatment Facilities such as hospitals, detoxification units, rehabs, mental health facilities within Area B, and to alcoholics who cannot access AA’s message of recovery due barriers including:
- Cultural and linguistic diversity
- Hearing impairment
- Visual impairment
- Physical disability
- Mental health problems other than alcoholism
- Homelessness
- Information is reported at Assemblies, Committee meetings, via the Area B-Line and Area B ER website.
In keeping with Tradition 4, communication among Groups, Districts and AA members providing TFT service is vital, to ensure that the service work of one Group does not affect the work of any other Groups, Districts or individual AA members. To help avoid duplication of service, TF Coordinator maintains list of existing Treatment Facilities.
The potential volume of service work is too much for one person. Therefore it is suggested that the TFT Coordinator form a Working Group so that the hand of AA reaches out more broadly to alcoholics in Treatment Facilities or those requiring special access.
All TFT activities should conform to the principles outlined in AA’s Traditions, Concepts and related PI&CPC guidelines.
- Guideline 4 – Information on Alcoholics Anonymous
- Guideline 7 – Public Information & Co-Operation with the Professional Community
- Guideline 16 – Treatment & Correctional Facilities Committees
- Guideline 17 – For AA Members Employed in the Alcoholism Field
- Guideline 18 – Carrying the Message to the Hearing-Impaired Alcoholic
- Guideline 19 – Forming Local Committees on Co-Operation with the Professional Community
- Guideline 24 – AA Co-Operation in Research & Non-AA Survey Projects
- Guideline 30 – PI&CPC and T&CF Coordinators & Forums
- Guideline 33 – Suggestions for Members Visiting Treatment Facilities
For more information or to get involved, email tft@aaareaber.org.au
TFT Resources
- Official Contacts
- How to prepare a database of Rehabs and Detoxes
- Presenting at detoxes and rehabs
- Speaking at Non-A.A. Meetings
- AA in Treatment Settings
- Alcoholics Anonymous in your Community
- “What AA is and What it is Not” to Alcoholism in Treatment Facility Clients
- Access to AA – Members share on overcoming barriers
- Accessibilities Checklist for Meetings and Groups
- Accessibilities Workbook
- Accessibility Kit Contents
- For Volunteers Staffing and AA Exhibit
- How AA members Cooperate with Professionals
- If You are a professional … Alcoholics Anonymous wants to work with You
- Is there a problem Drinker in the Workplace?
- Presentation: “What AA. is and What it is Not” (to Treatment Facility Administrators and Professional Staff)
- Carrying the AA Message in the Community(US)
- Videos for professionals(UK)
- Cochrane Report– The largest, most rigorous independent study on Alcoholics Anonymous to date shows that AA can help people get sober, stay sober, drink less, and suffer fewer negative consequences of drinking, all while keeping health care costs down. Watch scientists John Kelly (Harvard/MGH) and Keith Humphreys (Stanford/VA) discuss their findings (published 3/11/20 by the Cochrane Collaborative), with commentary from psychologist Gabrielle Jones.