Plan for drug-free prison treatment

PLANS to establish drug-free communities in prisons to help inmates overcome their addiction have been included in a new strategic plan drawn up by Coolmine Therapeutic Community.

The measure aims to provide up to 40 therapeutic community placements by 2017, which would allow prisoners to tackle their addictions while serving sentences.

Research shows that over the next two years, Coolmine TC can expect around 65 prisoners seeking access to its residential treatment centres at any one time.

This includes around 50 male prison clients seeking admission to Coolmine Lodge and 15 females (expectant women or with young babies) from Dochas Prison seeking placements at Coolmine TC’s Ashleigh House.

Coolmine also plans to expand its mother and child services including creating further programmes for non-stabilised expectant women and expanding its Parenting Under Pressure programme, to meet an identified need for targeted interventions with high risk families.

“Coolmine’s new strategic plan 2016 to 2018 had been developed under the auspices of the current consultation process to define the direction and work of the next

?¯National Drug Strategy,” said Coolmine Chief Executive, Ms Pauline McKeown.

The Strategy also sets out how Coolmine will develop appropriate clinical governance arrangements to establish a residential stabilisation unit that will stabilise six expectant mothers every year.

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Services will also be developed to enhance treatment access, decrease early leavers and manage crisis situations for clients during lapses and relapses.

This will include a safety net service for early leavers in partnership with key homeless agencies.

Coolmine also plans for the formal establishment of two methadone maintenance programme placements for pregnant women to increase access to residential treatment.

Chairman of Coolmine TC, Alan Connolly, says the new plan was borne from situational data analysis, including recent research, statistical trend analysis and key stakeholder consideration.

“It is set within two distinct strategic areas – growth and innovation that sees the development and refinement of our services to meet presenting needs and the capacity and sustainability to see investment in organisational systems, infrastructure to safeguard delivery of quality programmes evidenced by outcome,” he said.

The Coolmine Strategic Plan 2016-2018 was launched last month by Tánaiste, Joan Burton, who is a local TD in Dublin 15.