DIRECTOR'S REPORT
ANNUAL REVIEW I998/1999
This year has seen many significant changes at ADAS. We have added new members to our Team and also have new premises.
When the Project started we were fortunate to secure rooms which we anticipated if the Project went well would be too small. This has turned out to be the case during our second year and we moved to our present, very adequate, new premises in September 1999. We were delighted when these were formally opened for us by Kevin Kennedy, otherwise known as Curly Watts. We now have two Client groups running concurrently plus Aftercare and The Family Group which continue to thrive and expand.
Mr. Dave Goodlad was appointed as Programme Co-ordinator as a result of his excellent work on the structure and delivery of the Programme content and group therapy which is impeccable. The clients' recovery reflects the depth and weight of the Programme which is empowering them to develop living solutions to the problems that arise in early recovery, through the treatment they receive.
The Programme at ADAS is amongst the highest quality available in the country. It is one that has many diverse elements of therapeutic influence incorporating therapies such as "Person Centred, Gestalt and Psyche Dynamic" models among others. The treatment is more closely described as "Integrative", in its approach to dependency of substance. As the Team is trained in a multi disciplinary fashion we can utilise the particular expertise of the counsellor which is drawn upon when necessary to best address emergent issues as and when they arise, ensuring that the clients' needs are met and relapse is avoided.
The method of management of the staff team is a combination of Human Resource and Total Quality to best accommodate both the needs of the staff members and the delivery of the service as a whole.
There are grateful votes of thanks for a most successful year both in fund-raising achievements and the client success rate, which is high. The staff team have worked together in a devoted and conscientious way producing wonderful group therapy and a wholesome therapeutic relationship with their client caseload.
We have contributed to the Government's on going policies, such as New Deal Programme, Primary Health Care Groups and Hospital Liaison schemes and also Criminal Justice policies. We have received a grant specifically for Out-Reach and Group work in the Probation Service, which enabled us to build working relationships with Probation Officers. This has led to the development of a Programme of negotiations with the Police, Probation Services and the Courts for a working policy for Arrest Referral and diversion from custody into treatment. Having formed these links we hope to provide treatment programmes for these systems, with a view to contracts and partnerships being negotiated in the millennium.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Patrons and Trustees for their support. Also I welcome the two new members of the Board of Trustees namely Dr. Brian Liebermann and Yvonne Healing who we hope will enjoy working with us for the benefit of the whole organisation. I would also like to thank the Management Committee and all the numerous individuals who have put their skills and expertise at the disposal of the
charity for no reward other than giving this valuable service to people who are amongst the most vulnerable in society.
ADAS also thank all the individuals and businesses that have donated money, time or effort. A grateful vote of thanks from all of us here at ADAS.
Helen Massey-Roche
Supported by The European Social Fund