Visitor Policy & Leaving

Visitor Policy and Leaving Shardale

When an individual has been within the community for 21 days it is then permissible for visits to take place. During a visit a resident may either stay on site or leave the facility and enjoy the local area’s shopping or recreational facilities with their visitors (even accompanied by visitors, programme participants are not allowed to go back to the place they originally resided due to risk/safety reasons). If a resident has children under the age of 16 they will be allowed to visit the facility after 14 days instead of 21.

As a service provider we have a duty of care to all of our programme participants, consequently there is a restriction to the number of visits an individual may have (normally this is restricted to one per agreed visiting day). Weekly visits are a privilege and applications for leave are decided upon by staff members, again based around risk/safety and behavioural considerations. Visit approvals can be retracted at any point if deemed necessary by the Shardale staff team.

Visits take place on a Saturday afternoon from 1pm until 6pm. It is expected that all participants who leave the rehab facility premises return by the agreed time. Visits outside the allocated Saturday slot may sometimes take place with the agreement of the Shardale staff team.

Any visitors found to be under the influence of alcohol or any other substance will be asked to leave, putting any further visiting access in jeopardy.

When a participant has completed the relevant modules of the programme they may then apply for weekend leave. Individuals are expected to leave Shardale on Friday at 5pm and return on Sunday by 6pm.

Full weekend leave can be applied for every three weeks, however no more than five members of the community are allowed to be granted leave at the same time. A democratic system is usually called upon when more than five community members are applying for leave at the same time.

Breathalysing and drug testing, if appropriate, will take place as individuals return from any form of visit or leave. This will be agreed in advance as an objective and precautionary measure.

Visits and leave are seen as an essential part of the treatment model and each individual’s personal circumstances are continually reviewed and monitored by the Shardale staff team. When decisions are being made around the suitability of visits and leave, therapeutic considerations will always be taken into consideration by the Shardale staff team.