Dear Colleagues
I recently received the following letter from our friend and colleague, Charalampos Poulopoulos regarding the recent disastrous destruction of their TC during a prison riot. I will of course write formally from the EFTC on behalf of all our members to support a restoration of this valuable project, but I am sure that many individual EFTC members and other list members will want to write separately.
Babis' letter follows:
To
Mr. Rowdy Yates
Acting President of the EFTC
Scottish Addiction Studies
University of Stirling, FK9 4LA
Athens, October 17, 2012
Dear President,
As you know, over the past years Greece has been experiencing the full impact of the recession. The field of drug treatment is no exception, inasmuch as the recession is significantly impacting both the recipients and the providers of treatment services. In this difficult period KETHEA is being called upon to respond to increasing needs, while facing budget and personnel cuts.
Under these harsh conditions, KETHEA is now facing a new difficulty. During a prison riot at the Judicial Prison of Korydallos in Athens on September 23rd 2012, KETHEA EN DRASEI Therapeutic Community was completely destroyed by fire. The riot was not associated with the Therapeutic Community and, fortunately, there were no casualties. However, both the building and the equipment suffered huge losses (photos included). The total cost of the damage exceeds 300.000 €. The Therapeutic Community is hosted temporarily in another area of the prison, which is not suitable for treatment. The reconstruction of facilities is a priority for KETHEA.
Korydallos is the largest prison in the country by population and houses approximately 2.300 inmates. A significant percentage of this population has committed drug-related offences and/or has a drug problem. ÊÅÔÇÅÁ ÅÍ DRASEI Therapeutic Community remains one of the very few recovery units in the entire Greek Criminal Justice System. The Therapeutic Community was set up 3 ½ years ago. The facilities were renovated with funds of KETHEA and personal work on the part of the prisoners.
To date, 177 prisoners have participated in the KETHEA EN DRASEI Therapeutic Community, and more than 180 inmates, who are currently attending the KETHEA EN DRASEI Counseling Support Programme in korydallos Prison, are waiting to enter the Therapeutic Community.
It should be noted that KETHEA EN DRASEI Therapeutic Community forms part of a wider therapeutic programme, which comprises several units in women’s and men’s prison (including two Therapeutic Communities for women), as well as a Reception and Re-entry Centre for Released Prisoners in Athens, guaranteeing continuity of care after prison. According to the Centre for Penal and Criminological Research of the Athens Law School, which has conducted an evaluation the therapeutic programme, KETHEA EN DRASI is an innovative venture “that respond to real and deep-seated need” and “should be used as a model for other prisons in Greece”.
We kindly ask you to inform the members of the EFTC around Europe of the incident. Letters of support to KETHEA EN DRASEI members, who are now going through a difficult face, would be highly appreciated. KETHEA may also use these letters to sensitize public opinion and policy makers in Greece, in an effort to raise funds for the reconstruction of the Therapeutic Community.
Letters and messages can be emailed at: [log in to unmask] or sent to: KETHEA, Sorvolou 24, 116 36 Mets, Athens, Greece. We thank you in advance for your help
With Kind regards,
Charalampos Poulopoulos, PhD
KETHEA Director
R. Yates
Senior Research Fellow
Scottish Addiction Studies
School of Applied Social Science
University of Stirling
Scotland
T: +44 (0) 1786-467737
F: +44 (0) 1786-466299
W: http://www.dass.stir.ac.uk/sections/showsection.php?id=4 (home)
W: http://www.drugslibrary.stir.ac.uk/ (online library)
W: http://roryyates.bandcamp.com (Wrestling With Demons: Four Songs of Addiction & Recovery)
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