Minister: Right Living House Treatment Facility

Good afternoon and thank you for joining me:

I am very pleased to be here today to highlight today’s Open House of the Right Living House.

It was almost two weeks ago that I provided the public with an update on the Ministry’s treatment services.

And I view today as a continuation of our efforts to ensure that the public is kept fully abreast of our efforts to provide a comprehensive treatment and counselling service for those individuals suffering from substance issues.

Today we shine the spotlight on the Right Living House and the celebration of their third year anniversary.

In a moment, you will be provided with a detailed overview of the Right Living House and its programmes, however I just want to touch on a few of those aspects in my remarks.

The Right Living House is a Therapeutic Community which originally opened its doors to residents in the summer of 2009, received its first admissions in January of 2010.

Since then, it has received 45 admissions to the programme.

Nineteen persons have successfully completed the residential programme and fifteen are currently in process.

The programme was developed in a partnership between the Department of National Drug Control and the Department of Corrections.

Together, these two agencies set out to lessen the corrosive impact of drug abuse and crime on our community.

The programme is segregated from the general prison population in order to diminish the potential negative influences of the untreated inmate subculture on the TC’s changed-oriented, pro-social culture.

I think it’s important to point out that many of the clients who would normally have been in Westgate’s Transitional Learning Centre programme are now in the Right Living House programme.

Right Living House is a highly structured educational and therapeutic treatment environment that expects offenders to display responsible, appropriate behaviour at all times.

This peer-to-community structure strengthens the resident’s identification with a perceived, ordered network of peers.

More importantly, this structure works to develop relationships of mutual responsibility among the residents who are at various developmental stages (phases) in the programme.

And such a focus on the development of relationships is a key aspect in ensuring that these individuals are properly equipped in becoming functional members of the community when the time comes for them to reintegrate back into society.

I just want to highlight some of the ways that the residents of the Right Living House have given back to the community through their participation and volunteering for numerous local charity events including:

• Bethel AME’s Men’s Day Programme
• Richard Allen AME Men’s Day Programme
• Renovation of the youth camp on Darrell’s Island
• Bermuda Marathon Weekend
• St. Georges Rotary Tag Day
• Prison Fellowship Tag Day
• Bethel AME renovation project
• Fort St. Catherine’s Beach clean up
• St. George’s golf course clean up
• Charities House refurbishment
• Devonshire Pre-School
• St. Paul’s Anglican Church Rectory

So as you can see and as you will undoubtedly hear from this afternoon’s presenters, we have come a long way in three years.

We have taken the necessary steps to offer a first class treatment facility right here on the Island that can assist our residents in need.

But it wouldn’t be possible without some very fierce dedication from some very special individuals.

And those involved in not just the Right Living Programme, but all of our treatment service programmes should be commended for going above and beyond to assist our residents who require this vital service. It’s the people behind the programme that makes this work, and I cannot thank them enough for their commitment.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for allowing me to address you this afternoon. Today’s occasion tangibly demonstrates that we are a caring Government and we are doing all that we can to address this critically important social need.

Thank you.

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