Home > Coolmine Therapeutic Community annual report 2006.

Carew, Anne Marie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8026-7228 (2007) Coolmine Therapeutic Community annual report 2006. Drugnet Ireland, Issue 24, Winter 2007, p. 15.

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Coolmine Therapeutic Community was established in 1973. Its mission is to ‘provide the best quality residential and community services possible, in order to empower people to end their dependence on drugs and alcohol and to help them realise their right and potential to become participating and valued members of society.’1  Coolmine's facilities are located in the Dublin area, but they offer a service country-wide. A year of change: annual report 2006 was published in October 2007.2 

According to the report, Coolmine has incorporated the Homeless Agency’s holistic needs assessment in their case-management system to ensure that all of their clients’ needs are taken into consideration. The organisation is committed to providing a ‘continuum of care’, and in 2006 they launched two new initiatives: the Welcome Programme and the Integration and Aftercare Service. 

  • The Welcome Programme, based at 112 Cork Street, Dublin 8, provides a tailor-made programme of care for clients who are struggling to become and/or remain drug free. The programme includes counselling, group work, support in accessing accommodation, guidance on detoxification options and introduction to the most appropriate service providers.  It can cater for a maximum of 12 clients at any one time. This programme was accessed by 65 clients in 2006, of whom 18 had achieved their planned goals by the end of the year.  
  • The Integration and Aftercare Service provides support to clients as they negotiate the transition from treatment back into the community, and provides step-down, community-based housing for a minimum of six months. In 2006, the programme provided services to 36 clients. 

Coolmine also provides the following services:

  • Outreach Services, based at 19 Lord Edward Street, provide a 9am–5pm drop-in facility, along with an outreach service to a number of prisons and homeless services in Dublin city and the midlands. In 2006, the outreach workers assessed 393 people in the community, of whom 140 entered one of the Coolmine services; they also assessed 129 people in prison, of whom 33 entered a community-based service. Coolmine staff also provided 51 group counselling sessions in 2006 for clients who completed the detoxification programme at the Mountjoy Prison Medical Unit. 
  • The Drug Free Day Programme, also based at Lord Edward Street, provides a six-month, abstinence-based, rehabilitative programme for 12 clients at any one time. In 2006, 27 clients participated in the programme, nine of whom progressed to aftercare and integration services. The programme provides a safe environment where clients can develop skills for a drug-free and independent way of life.  
  • The Women’s Residential Service at Ashleigh House, Clonee, Co Meath, offers women a safe environment in which to address substance use issues and associated behaviours. This six-month programme accommodates a maximum of eight women at any one time, with plans to increase this number to 12 in 2007. There were 17 admissions during 2006. 
  • The Men’s Residential Service at Coolmine Lodge, Grove Road, Clonsilla, gives clients the support and opportunity to tackle and overcome drug dependency and its associated behaviours. The nine-month programme can cater for up to 30 men at any one time. There were 74 admissions during 2006. 
  • Family Support Services engaged a dedicated staff member in 2006 to work with families and significant others in crisis and to facilitate weekly support groups.

 The priorities for Coolmine in 2007 are to increase staffing levels and staff–client ratios in all services, provide crèche and child-care facilities in the women’s service, and provide a step-down and aftercare facility for those attending services in Cork city and county.

 

1. See the Coolmine Therapeutic Community website at www.coolminetc.ie.

2. Coolmine Therapeutic Community (2007) A year of change: annual report 2006. Dublin: Coolmine Therapeutic Community.

 

 

Item Type
Article
Publication Type
Irish-related, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
All substances
Issue Title
Issue 24, Winter 2007
Date
October 2007
Page Range
p. 15
Publisher
Health Research Board
Volume
Issue 24, Winter 2007
EndNote
Accession Number
HRB (Available)

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