Caritas Malta embarked on a project funded by Erasmus+, whereby it provided an opportunity for 23 staff members working in Caritas drug rehabilitation services to visit therapeutic communities across Europe. The aim of these visits was to exchange job knowledge and best practices, discuss the therapeutic model adopted in these communities, provide an opportunity of networking, and increase awareness about drug trends in other countries and how these compare to the Maltese situation.
The project, titled Enhancing job experience of staff working in drug rehabilitation, had a duration of 15 months of implementation where in the initial stages Caritas Malta focused on establishing partnerships with organisations abroad who were ready to act as hosts, and who have valuable experience in the field of drug rehabilitation. These partners are Proyecto Hombre, Catalunya (Spain); Il Ponte, Civitavecchia (Italy); Coolmine Therapeutic Community (Ireland); CEIS Formazione, Modena (Italy), and MONAR, Gdansk (Poland). The visits, known as mobilities, were carried out in 2024 and each mobility had a duration of three full days. The mobilities in Proyecto Hombre, Coolmine and CEIS were focused on adult rehabilitation services whilst the mobilities of Il Ponte and MONAR were rehabilitation services dedicated for adolescents only.
Caritas staff who participated in this project made valuable observations following their mobilities, pointing out strengths as well as possible future developments. The discussions and exchanges that they had with professionals were very fruitful and culminated in the understanding that the therapeutic community model which is used globally in thousands of drug rehabilitation centres, is indeed an inspirational tool that gives individuals a chance to change themselves.
The project came to end in December 2024. Caritas Malta would like to thank the European Union Programmes Agency for its valuable assistance throughout this project and for making such opportunities available.