Report of visit to 'CONTACT USA'

June 27th. 2000

Introduction:

In planning my trip to Canada I decided to try and include a courtesy visit to CONTACT USA. The idea being that I would later plan to attend the CONTACT National Convention, Harrisburg 3rd. - 6th. June 2001 giving me more time to meet with Directors and Members of the organisation from all over the country.

Tuesday 27th. June:

I had some general discussions with Al Kemery, National Exec. Director of CONTACT USA on the Monday evening, all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning when Al very kindly drove me half way to Connecticut to meet my lift.

What came out of these discussions for me was that some centres in the US (as in other member countries) are struggling to survive. Recruitment and retention of volunteers as well as funding seem to be the main issues. Centres are questioning whether they want to remain affiliated to CONTACT USA or whether they should connect with other umbrella organisations working in the counselling service field. What does being a member of CONTACT and ultimately LifeLine International really mean for them.

Al had very kindly arranged for me to meet with two specific people, at my request: Joe Long and Bob Larson.

My meeting with Joe Long was in connection with the International Accreditation Process. I gave Joe 'hard copy' of all the documentation I had received to date and thanked him most sincerely for his involvement and willingness to continue working on the accreditation. We discussed the framework for International Accreditation agreeing in our own personal thinking that International should be accrediting National Structures. Centres should be accredited by their National Offices.

The International Accreditation should be specific enough to insure quality of service and broad enough to allow countries to develop specific programmes that would meet the needs of their communities. Accreditation should therefore consist of 10 main points instead of a long check list. These points should give Affirmation and Encouragement.

5 points should be concerned with Counsellor (Worker) Recruitment, Training and Long Term Management and 5 points concerned with Service Delivery and Quality to our communities.

I have promised to let Joe have the rest of the National Member Comments; which I have asked for by the end of July, as soon as I have them. Meeting with Joe personally was very helpful for me. We also discussed National Stats. and my hope to be able to compile International Stats.

My meeting with Bob Larsson gave me the opportunity to hear first hand about the early developments of LifeLine International as Bob held the position of General Secretary in the earlier years. He kindly gave me some tapes that he had recorded giving the back ground to much of the development and discussions that have taken place in the past. I have added these to the LifeLine International archive and plan to make copies available for Members at a later stage. This was also a very rewarding meeting for me.

Al had very kindly arranged a luncheon with members of staff from the National Office, as well as the National Board Chairman and the CONTACT USA representative to the International Board Jon Singer and Sharon Stabinski, Exec. Director of the Harrisburg Centre. This was a very relaxed opportunity to meet and talk.

In the afternoon Al took me to visit the Harrisburg Centre where I spent some time talking to Sharon Stabinski and Mark Dittman who is their information and referral coordinator and has put together a really useful programme on the computer where counsellors can log their calls. He has also created their referral manual on disc which is marketed generally to companies and interested public.

Conclusion:

• I will do everything in my power to attend the National Convention in May 2001.
• Al will e mail me a copy of the National Stats. once they are completed.
• I will e mail accreditation documents to Joe Long.

Special Thanks To:

• Al, Carol, Katie, Rachael, Elizabeth and Peter for opening their hearts and home to me and for our fun evening out at the Hershey Factory.
• Jon Singer, Bob Larson and Joe Long for making the time to meet me.
• Sharon and all the staff at the Harrisburg Centre for a very informative visit.
• Al and the staff at the National Office for accommodating my visit.

Sue Thönell 2000.07.19

Exec. Director LifeLine International

IMPORTANT:

On this trip there were 2 statements that I shared with Telecare and CONTACT as I believe the issue of identity causes a great deal of the concerns in centres as to where they belong and what they are doing.

1. Our organisation is NOT and Organisation of Professionals BUT Professional in the Service we Deliver.
2. As our organisation does not train it's counsellors in 'Christian Counselling,' which is very specific.

We are not a Christian Counselling Organisation but an Organisation where our Counsellors (Workers) are encouraged to understand the role of the 'Spiritual Self' and where some of our Counsellors (Workers) are Christian.

Please think about these 2 statements carefully as they are my own observations and have come out of my own struggles in the past with the misconceptions of LifeLine's identity and role.