Smart Recovery UK (complaints procedure)
From their site :
"Complaints
UK SMART Recovery is committed to our meetings being safe, supportive and as effective as possible. We train and support meeting Facilitators and provide a range of materials to keep things on track, though as with any organisation, things can go wrong. This page describes how we handle concerns or complaints about any SMART Recovery meeting, volunteer or member of staff.
Informal Complaints
For minor grievances not related to safety or serious breaches of the Facilitators code of conduct, we would like to encourage a culture of informal problem solving. Most differences of opinion, mistakes or failings do not need to be taken through a complaint procedure, so we urge common sense and talking things through if no one is at risk of harm.
If the complaint is related to a particular meeting, please talk to the meeting Facilitator and explain the problem. If possible, point to the specific part of the meeting structure, code of conduct or failure to follow the SMART meeting model that is of concern. Facilitators need and deserve feedback and often this will make the difference you seek. If the meeting is under the Partnership scheme it would be appropriate to speak to Champions / staff of the host agency.
If this does not achieve the result you want, you could contact the Volunteer Regional Coordinator. These do not exist in every area yet, but it is worth checking the ‘Meet the Team’ section of the website. If there is no Volunteer Regional Coordinator or the matter is a little more complicated, you could talk to the National Coordinator (for England, Scotland or Wales). All these volunteers and staff will help you try to resolve problems and improve SMART Recovery.
Formal complaints
Stage 1
If you are unable to resolve the issue informally or it is a serious issue, you should contact Central Office and address your complaint to The Executive Director. In your letter you should set out the details of your complaint, the consequences for you as a result, and what you would like to see happen. You can expect your complaint to be acknowledged within 5 working days of receipt. You should get a response and an explanation within 15 working days.
Stage 2
If you are not satisfied with the initial response to the complaint then you can write to the member of the Board of Trustees who has a lead responsibility to handle complaints, indicating you would like the issue to be reviewed. You can expect the Board member to acknowledge your request within 5 working days of receipt and a response within 15 workings days.
Stage 3
If you are not satisfied with the subsequent reply from nominated Board member, then you have the option of writing to the Chair of the Board of Trustees stating the reason why you are dissatisfied with the outcome. You must do this within 10 days of receiving the written response from the Board member.
The Chair will, as he or she sees fit, discuss this with the entire Board and respond normally within 10 working days to inform you of the action which will be taken to investigate your complaint, and when you can expect to hear the outcome of the investigation.
Timescales
We aim is to resolve all matters as quickly as possible. However, inevitably some issues will be more complex and therefore may require longer to be fully investigated. Consequently, timescales given for handling and responding to complaints are indicative. If a matter requires more detailed investigation, you will receive an interim response describing what is being done to deal with the matter, and when a full reply can be expected and from whom.
Special cases
- If the complaint is about the actions of the Director of UK SMART Recovery, skip stage one and go straight to the nominated Board member as described in stage 2.
- If the complaint is about a Board member, skip stages 1 and 2 – go straight to the Chair of the Board.
- If the complaint is about the Chair, the entire Board or the overall behaviour of the charity (such as breaching charity rules), you should complain to the Chair. Optionally, you could also complain to the charity in the US, which gives the UK charity permission to use and develop SMART Recovery in this country, http://www.smartrecovery.org"
Alcoholics Anonymous Great Britain (complaints procedure)
Wait
for it......
Wait
for it …....
There
is none...
Certainly
the General Service Office (York) operates no such system... nor to
the best of our knowledge does a single intergroup throughout the
entire country. Some individual groups, however, do more actively
apply the ever increasing volume of guidelines relating to bullying,
abuse, sexual predation etc.. but these are few and far between...
Otherwise the remainder just operate autonomously … or to put it
another way … Dodge
City style..... (especially cult groups who use Tradition
Four as a licence to engage in pretty well any abuse they feel
like … sexual
predation, larceny..... stuff like that).
In
the absence of any kind of effective protection in AA what recourse
might there be for anyone who feels they have been the victim of this
kind of abuse? Under English law a “duty
of care” exists between individuals. If the various tests are
satisfied there may be a basis for legal action against the
perpetrator. Moreover (and perhaps more importantly) where an
individual has been referred to AA (or even required to attend) by an
outside agency (eg. health trust, GP, probation service, employer
etc) and where as a consequence an individual feels that he or she
has been subjected to any form of abuse legal proceedings may be
instituted against the relevant service. Finally the Protection
from Harassment Act 1997 affords some further protection:
Section
1 “prohibits a person from pursuing "a course of conduct"
which "amounts to harassment of another" and which "he
knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other". A
person is taken to know that conduct is harassment if "a
reasonable person in possession of the same information would think
the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other".”
In
the meantime faced with such a disparity between the two
organisations in terms of the measures they have adopted to ensure
the security of their attendees we find it hard to conceive anyone
would opt for (or be referred by any professional agency being aware
of the duty of care it owes its clients) AA under these
circumstances.
Cheers
The
Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
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