Goals

1. That Salvation Army Officer families provide an emotionally and spiritually wholesome atmosphere wherein the marital relationship can be nurtured and where children can develop into healthy and whole persons.


2. That Salvation Army Officers be wholesome in mind, body and spirit, exhibiting maturity in their relationships and experiencing fulfillment in the Christian vocation.

The 'Plan' Outlined

Short Term: 10 counselling sessions
Officers/Officer family members will be entitled to 10 initial counselling sessions. These may be individual or joint sessions and on an assumed frequency of one hourly session per week.

Long Term: 20 additional counselling sessions
In addition to the short term sessions listed above, Officer/Officer family members may be entitled to a further twenty counselling sessions.

Counsellor Reporting

A reporting form has been design by the Office of Pastoral Services and will be sent to the Counsellor for completion at the following intervals:

• Short Term - 10 Sessions -
  Report forwarded to the Office of Pastoral Services at session 9


• Long Term - 20 Sessions -
  Report forwarded to the Office of Pastoral Services at session 19

At the end of sessions nine or nineteen, and on receipt of the final report from the Counsellor, if counselling has been deemed satisfactory concluded the file will be closed. If after consultation with the Director, the counsellor feels that further intervention is needed beyond the thirty sessions mentioned above, the Director of Pastoral Services may approve further sessions on an assumed frequency of one hourly session per week.

Confidential Progress reports will be received from the counsellor containing only the following information:

• That attendance is being maintained at all reserved sessions
  IF NOT: How many sessions have you missed to date?


• That the counsellor is satisfied with the counselling process being made


• A brief report on the on-going progress of the client


• NOTE: All reports are to be shared and cleared with the client prior to forwarding under private cover to The Director of Pastoral Services. Confidential information supplied by the client to the counsellor during the counselling process is neither sought nor expected in these reports.

OFFICER PAYMENT - Payment for all approved sessions will be covered by funds made available from Territorial Headquarters. It is requested however that Officers pay a personal portion in the amount of $10.00 per session. This fee is paid directly to the counsellor.

Confidentiality

As stated earlier in this document all Pastoral Services Officers are bound by professional and Christian ethics in regard to confidentiality. Every effort has been made to assure that client confidentiality is respected.

DOCUMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY - This document, signed by the Commissioner, the Secretary for Personnel and the Director of Pastoral Services states, "That all records retained at The Office of Pastoral Care are confidential, and information pertaining to those records will never be requested by Territorial Headquarters Administration." This document is retained at the Pastoral Services Office in Toronto and assures the complete privacy of all client files.

Client Identification - Upon registration with the Pastoral Services Office, each client is assigned a client code number. The actual record of name/number identification is kept under lock and key and accessed by the Director only. When an invoice is received at the Office of Pastoral Services from the counsellor, the invoice does not show the client name but shows the client number code only. When invoices are submitted to the Finance Department for payment they bear the name of the counsellor and the assigned number code only. The processed cheque is returned to the Pastoral Services Office and is then forwarded under private cover to the counsellor.

Telephone Invoices are also kept confidential. The portion of the telephone account that lists telephone numbers and communities called, or otherwise heard from via "collect calls," is removed prior to submission for payment to Territorial Headquarters.

Correspondence - All correspondence from counsellors is kept in private coded files which bears the code number assigned at the commencement of counselling. These documents are secure in a locked cabinet and can be accessed only by The Director of Pastoral Services.

Exceptions - It must be understood that under certain circumstances the files of the Pastoral Services Office may be subpoenaed by court order, and by law the office has no recourse but to surrender the file upon written documentation from the court.

Mandated Counselling - There may be circumstances when counselling is mandated by Salvation Army administration as a condition of continuance as a Salvation Army Officer. When mandated counselling occurs the Secretary for Personnel receives a copy of all progress reports submitted by the Counsellor during the course of assistance.

For the protection of all concerned the privilege of confidentiality cannot extend to the following situations:

• Life threatening harm to yourself or others


• Child Abuse


• Illegal Activity


• Immoral Behavior

Issues and Concerns

Officers face many issues and concerns during their years of ministry, and the Office of Pastoral Services strives to meet these varied expressions of need. The ministry in which all Salvation Army Officers are involved exacts a very heavy toll on single or married Officers, along with the resultant strain placed on various family members. The Office of Pastoral Services provides assistance to those who suffer the following:

• Inner personal conflict, marital concerns, parent-child conflict


• Inter-personal relationship concerns within the ministry/appointment setting


• Anger, hurt, disillusionment


• Grief, bereavement, loneliness, depression


• Illness, chronic fatigue syndrome, burn-out


• Past or present emotional, physical, verbal or sexual abuse


• Addictive or destructive behavior


• Adult children of alcoholic/drug addicted depended parents


• Concern with children - behavioral, development or educational concerns which need assessment by a professional


• And, always, "a listening ear" - personal, caring support