How the TC Model is making an international impact. At HMP Channings Wood in Devon, England there is an example of how Prison Service personnel and civilians are working together to form an effective and professional team. It is a treatment-based 112 bed residential unit aimed at prisoners with a history of drug abuse and drug related crime.
Drug abuse is seen merely as a symptom of a greater illness.
The Therapeutic Community is far more than a drugs course, it depends on the Residents ability to immerse themselves completely in a programme that lasts four 24 hours a day, every day. At Channings Wood, it is the Community, its concepts and the structure that provides the treatment, not the Staff. The role of Staff is to ensure that the Community is able to fulfil its function. The Staff who work on the unit are a mixture of Prison Service personnel and civilians who are employed by a company called Addaction. Staff are made responsible for overseeing the phases.