Treatment Facility Commitments

Volunteers

District 18/19 needs volunteers to help organize the numerous open commitment slots at several grateful local treatment and health care facilities. Visiting these facilities by Zoom or in person when allowed and carrying the message to those who are still struggling can be the most fulfilling work a sober alcoholic can do. Hearing a message of hope from those who are successfully recovering from your same disease can often be the final sigh of surrender to a new life.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the Treatment Committee, or taking a leadership role, we need your help in:

1. Contacting treatment facilities for information on:
   • when they have incoming commitments
   • how many of those slots are filled and by which groups
   • when they have openings.
2. Reaching out to groups that may be willing to take a regularly scheduled commitment at a treatment facility
3. Continuing to communicate with both treatment facilities and groups to ensure the commitments are being fulfilled.

Please send an email to aaemass1819@gmail.com if you can volunteer in this most special and important work.

Groups

Below is a list of all of the facilities that our District has worked with in the past. Districts 18 & 19 are not affiliated with any of these facilities, nor should this information be taken as promotion of these facilities or their services.

If you or your group is interested in committing to bring a meeting once a month to a facility, please send an email to aaemass1819@gmail.com and someone will help you with the following:

• Understanding what each facility is like and what to expect upon arrival
• What to expect at the meeting
• Exchanging contact information with the facility
• Handling any issues with the meetings and/or facilities
• Visiting your group’s business meeting to answer questions about commitments

Current Treatment Facilities

• Lahey Health Behavioral Services Danvers (CAB Danvers)
• Leland Unit at Beverly Hospital
• 7 East Inpatient Unit at Salem Hospital
• Recovery Centers of America at Danvers
• Brentwood Rehabilitation Centers & Healthcare Center in Danvers

online/Corrections Service & Committee

How to Be of Service

If you are interested in being of service with the Districts 18/19 Corrections Committee or would like the Corrections Committee Chair to visit your group’s business meeting to share more information about service opportunities, please contact Val M. at aaemass1819@gmail.com. Please download and share the Corrections flyer with your home group and at other AA meetings you attend.

District 18/19 is looking for local AA members to join its Corrections Committee and be of service in any of the following ways to other AA members who are currently incarcerated:

• Become a Corrections Committee Member. This involves attending a monthly Zoom committee meeting on the 2nd Sunday @ 9:00 AM (Zoom ID: 627 411 4999 Passcode: Correction), visiting different Zoom and in-person AA meetings in District 18/19 to make announcements about corrections service opportunities, and sharing corrections flyers.
• Bring AA Meeting Commitments to Correctional Facilities. Very few AA members from our district are currently approved to bring meetings into our district’s correctional facilities – the need here is huge! This involves getting approved by the Essex County Sheriff’s Department as a volunteer and maintaining your volunteer clearance, establishing a monthly meeting with one or more correctional facility, and attending those meeting commitments regularly. To learn more about eligibility, the approval process, and maintaining volunteer clearances please scroll below to the “Corrections Commitment Approval & Maintenance Process” section. Scroll down to the “Correctional Facilities” section to learn where facilities are located and what their current status for accepting commitments is.
• Give Your Old Grapevines/La Vinas to the Middleton Jail Library. This involves mailing your old issues of The Grapevine/La Vina in plastic bags for easy quarantining to Middleton Jail’s Library. Magazines must be sent in plastic bags otherwise they will not be accepted. Use mailing address: Shannon Leate-Varney, Essex County Sheriff’s Department, 22 Manning Ave, Middleton, MA 01949, Attn: Library
• Become a Prerelease Contact. No AA members from our local district are signed up as prerelease contacts – the need here is huge! This service is run by AA Boston Central Service and all questions should be directed to Kenny by calling Central Service at 617-426-9444. Prerelease contacts help get AA members to their first meeting within 24 to 48 hours after being released. To learn more how to sign up to be of service, read the AA Corrections Prerelease Contact Information pamphlet or contact Kenny at Central Service.
• Write to Incarcerated AA Members through the Corrections Correspondence Service. Currently there is a backlog of incarcerated male AA members waiting for correspondence from outside male AA members. This service is run by the AA World Services (AAWS) office in New York City and it involves registering with AAWS to correspond to an incarcerated AA member who is located in a different state. To maintain privacy, local AA members can use AA Boston Central Service’s mailing address and mail forwarding service for corrections correspondence. To learn more about this service work, visit the Corrections Correspondence Service page on AA.org. To learn more about using AA Boston Central Service’s mail forwarding service, please call Kenny at 617-426-9444.

Correctional Facilities

There are three correctional facilities to which AA members and groups in District 18/19 take meeting commitments. Those facilities are:

• Women In Transition in Salisbury (Women only) – In-person commitments only, no Zoom meetings.
• Essex County Pre-Release and Re-Entry Center (“The Farm”) in Lawrence (Men only) – Currently allowing in-person commitments only.
• Middleton Jail and House of Correction in Middleton – Currently allowing in-person commitments only, no online meetings.

Only approved volunteers are allowed to speak at AA meeting commitments in correctional facilities.

Corrections Commitment Volunteer Approval & Maintenance Process

The District 18/19 Corrections Committee Chairperson will help any interested AA member with the approval and/or clearance renewal process. To request an application/renewal application or find out more, contact Val M. at aaemass1819@gmail.com. All AA members interested in bringing commitments into a correctional facility are now required to go through the approval and volunteer clearance maintenance processes outlined by the Essex County Sheriff’s office. Anyone who was approved prior to 2019 or whose current approval has lapsed needs to get reapproved under the new process. All AA members are invited to apply but there are eligibility requirements.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants must be off probation/parole for a minimum of two years.
• Applicants must not have any open criminal cases.
• Applicants must have at least six months of continuous sobriety.
• Applicants must have gotten at least one (1) COVID vaccine shot.

Volunteer Approval Process

1. Submit Application, Background Check & Proof of Vaccination – Fill out, notarize, and submit a volunteer application with self-attestation proof of vaccination for background checks, and providing a front and back copy of your driver’s license to the Essex County Sheriff’s Department. Contact Val M. at aaemass1819@gmail.com to request a copy of the application. Volunteer approvals are valid for one (1) calendar year.
2. Attend Mandatory Volunteer Training – At the time you submit your volunteer application, you select which mandatory volunteer training you plan to attend. It is important that once you commit to a training date, you actually attend the training. These trainings are offered once per month from 7:00 AM-3:00 PM at the Essex County Sheriff Department’s Training Center. All CDC social distancing protocols are followed by the Sheriff’s office. 
3. Schedule & Attend Monthly AA Meeting Commitment – After you attend the training and are cleared to start bringing in meetings, the corrections committee chair will put you in touch with the facility to which you are interested in taking the meetings. You will arrange directly with that facility’s contact the date and time of your regular commitment. Only women can take commitments to Women In Transition in Salisbury and only men can take commitments to The Farm in Lawrence. Only approved volunteers are allowed to speak at your meeting commitments.

Volunteer Clearance Maintenance Process

The Essex County Sheriff’s Department has updated the requirements volunteers have to follow in order to maintain their volunteer clearance. Once approved, to maintain your volunteer clearance you will have to:

1. Attend your AA meeting commitment regularly throughout the calendar year.
2. Submit a renewal application for an annual background check 3-4 weeks prior to your approval’s expiration date. Volunteer clearances are valid for only one (1) calendar year.

If you require assistance with renewing your volunteer clearance, please contact the Corrections Committee Chair, Val M., at aaemass1819@gmail.com. 

Volunteer Training Location Details

Location: Essex County Sheriff’s Department Training and Staff Development Center (NOT Middleton Jail)

Address: 562 Maple Street, Danvers, MA (across the street from Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School)

Instructions: Training is from 7:00 AM-3:00 PM. Plan to arrive by 6:50 AM as late arrivals may not be permitted. Park in parking area. Put all valuables out of sight and lock car. Use the sidewalk that goes length of front of building. Take next sidewalk (first right) to bring you to main entrance door to sign in.