Terms of Reference of the Prison Sub-committee
The sub-committee will adhere to the Traditions, Concepts and Guidelines.
The sub-committee is comprised of one or more Trustees, one of whom acts as its Chair, and a maximum of 6 members with a good geographical spread, reflecting knowledge in all areas. All members will have been nominated through their Regions or Intergroups and appointed via the General Service Board Nominations Committee process.
From those members selected, a secretary will be appointed.
It is recommended that members have a minimum of five years continuous sobriety at the time of application and have experience in either Intergroup or Region Prisons service. Good organisational and communication skills are required and the ability to produce written and verbal reports would be an advantage, although not necessary.
All members will be required to have and use an aamail.org email address and regularly monitor it.
Sub-committee members will serve for a period of 4 years.
A Secretary will be elected from the members of the Sub-Committee.
The sub-committee will meet up to four times annually two of which will be an online meeting, two in York, one of these meetings will be the annual meeting of Regional PLO’s. Members are expected to attend meetings on a regular basis. If a member fails to attend two consecutive meetings, he/she will cease to be a member of the sub-committee.
Minutes of each meeting will be made available to the General Service Office for distribution to all General Service Board members as soon as possible after each meeting.
The principal aim of the sub-committee is to raise awareness throughout the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous in Great Britain of service to the Prison community.
Its objectives are to:
- Offer support and advice to Regional Prison Liaison Officers (PLOs)
- Help promote and encourage the appointment of Liaison officers as considered most effective
- Provide a more coordinated approach to Prison work throughout England, Scotland and Wales.
- Assure a moderator to help with the Prisons Forum in the Member’s Area of the GSB Website is in place.
- Assist in the implementation of Conference recommendations.
- Hold a Regional Prison Liaison Officer’s meeting annually in York.
The term unconscious bias encompasses several types of bias such as gender bias, confirmation bias, age bias, and affinity bias, to name a few. It can be both positive and negative, as we may favour or disapprove of someone based on whether we feel they fit into ‘our group’ (namely, whether we feel they share similar characteristics to us). This means a person could make a decision influenced by false beliefs or assumptions or by categorising someone through the practice of ‘stereotyping’. Everyone can think in a way that involves unconscious bias at some point, but it is important to be aware of it and not let it affect behaviour or decisions.
One of our key expectations that all persons within, or who work with the Prison Sub Committee should be aware of unconscious bias and of the impact this may have on others and the impact this may have on Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole.
The Prison Sub Committee members have a responsibility to ensure that all projects and meetings etc. are in accordance with the recommendations set out in The General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous Safeguarding Policy