A.A. carries its message into treatment settings without operating them
Treatment facilities and A.A. may serve the same alcoholic at different points, but they have different responsibilities. Treatment facilities provide professional services. A.A. provides its program and Fellowship of recovery from alcoholism.
The official A.A.W.S. material explains how A.A. meetings and Treatment Committee service can be present in treatment settings, how discharge can be connected to community A.A., and why those activities do not make a treatment facility part of A.A. or A.A. part of the facility.
A.A.’s responsibility remains its primary purpose
Tradition Five gives every A.A. group one primary purpose
: carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. (The Twelve Traditions)
That purpose remains the same when A.A. members enter a hospital, rehabilitation center, outpatient program, or another treatment setting. They carry the A.A. message; they do not take over the facility’s professional responsibilities.
Treatment centers are not A.A. facilities
A.A. states plainly, There are no “A.A. rehabs” or hospitals.
(Does A.A. operate hospitals or rehabilitation centers for alcoholics?)
A facility may employ people who are A.A. members, host A.A. meetings, or help residents learn about A.A. None of those facts makes the facility an A.A. enterprise or authorizes it to present treatment as an A.A. service.
Treatment services remain the facility’s responsibility
A.A.W.S. says no professional services or facilities are ever offered or performed under A.A. sponsorship.
(Does A.A. operate hospitals or rehabilitation centers for alcoholics?)
Admission, assessment, detoxification, clinical treatment, medication, housing, discharge planning, and facility operations belong to the treatment provider. A.A. participation does not transfer those responsibilities to a group, committee, or individual A.A. member.
Treatment Committees carry the A.A. message into treatment settings
A.A.W.S. says Treatment Committees carry the A.A. message into treatment settings where there may be suffering alcoholics.
(Treatment Committees)
The committee coordinates A.A. members and groups that want to make A.A. available inside treatment settings. The service is directed toward access to the A.A. message, not toward operating or advising the treatment program.
Committees provide information and help A.A. meetings begin
Treatment Committee members provide A.A. information, literature and guidelines for setting up A.A. meetings.
(Treatment Committees)
They may make presentations to administrators and staff, arrange A.A. speakers, keep literature available, and help establish meeting access. These are message-carrying and coordination activities performed within A.A.’s Traditions.
Two meeting arrangements may be used in treatment settings
The Conference-approved pamphlet describes Two kinds of A.A. meetings
in treatment settings. (A.A. in Treatment Settings)
A regular A.A. group may rent space in a facility and function like a group meeting elsewhere. A treatment-setting A.A. meeting may be limited to clients, with outside A.A. members chairing or speaking. The local arrangement determines access, but neither arrangement turns the facility itself into A.A.
An A.A. group in a facility remains independent
The long form of Tradition Three permits alcoholics gathered for sobriety to call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
(A.A. in Treatment Settings)
A regular group meeting on facility premises is not operated by the facility. A.A.W.S. guidance also warns against using the facility’s name as the group name because that could imply that A.A. runs the facility or that the facility runs the group.
A.A. members respect the treatment setting’s rules
A.A. guidance for treatment service says the committee Seeks to understand, respect, and adhere to all treatment setting regulations.
(A.A. Guidelines on Treatment Committees)
A.A. members are guests when they carry the message into a facility. Dependability, clear communication, privacy requirements, visitor procedures, scheduling, and staff instructions are part of maintaining access without assuming control of the setting.
Bridging the Gap connects discharge to community A.A.
The A.A. temporary-contact flyer says the program connects the new member being discharged from a facility to A.A. in their community.
(A.A. Bridging the Gap – Temporary Contact)
A temporary contact arranges early A.A. meeting attendance, introduces the newcomer to other members, and helps the person find meeting information, a home group, and a sponsor. It is short-term A.A. service after discharge, not continuing treatment or a substitute for the facility’s discharge plan.
Cooperation does not create affiliation
A.A.W.S. states, A.A. is not affiliated with any type of treatment facility.
(A.A. can support professionals)
A facility can refer residents to A.A., provide space, and coordinate access. A.A. can provide speakers, meetings, literature, and temporary contacts. The facility retains responsibility for treatment; A.A. retains responsibility for carrying its message. Neither endorses, controls, or becomes part of the other.