PURPOSE
The purpose of a correctional facilities committee is to coordinate the work of
individual A.A. members and groups who are interested in carrying our message of
recovery to alcoholics behind the walls, ands to set up means of smoothing the
way from the facility to the larger A.A. community through prerelease contacts.
A correctional facilities committee may function within the structure of a
General Service Conference area committee or a central office (intergroup). In
A.A.'s early years, prison Twelfth Step work was usually done by an individual
group or an individual member. As A.A. has grown, however, it seems that a
committee formed within the A.A. service structure works more effectively.
Prior to 1977, services to correctional and treatment facilities were provided
under the umbrella of the Institutions Committee. Because of rapid growth, the
1977 General Service Conference voted to dissolve its Institutions Committee and
two new committees, one on correctional facilities and one on treatment
facilities, were formed. This division was created to provide better service to
groups and meetings in both kinds of facilities.