The Madeline Centre is in the process of training all new and existing staff about ethics and counseling.  The purpose of this training is to protect the rights of our clients and their families and to improve the professionalism of the staff.  Ethics begins with caring about our clients and our effect on them.  The Madeline Centre prides itself in our caring attitude and putting the client first.  Our clients have many needs, and it is easy to want to respond to all of those needs.  Yet our purpose is to enable them to learn to meet their own needs. We want to be there for the clients, but not to foster dependency.  Sometimes this is a thin line.  By linking our families with community resources, we are able to teach them how to access the help they need. 

Ethics also encompasses honoring and valuing different cultures and norms.  We need to be respectful of people’s beliefs and ideas even if they contradict with our own.  This too can often be difficult, especially when those beliefs and ideas seem to disenfranchise people and block their access to more mainstream benefits.  Occasionally, we are confronted with gangs or criminal elements, which seem counter-productive to the goals we hope to achieve.  We feel like it is important to expose and educate others about different ways of thinking, so they can make more informed decisions about their lives.  It is not our goal to convert anybody but to the most basic human values such as love, respect, patience and honor. 

 Sorting out these issues is a challenge, but one that we welcome.  It is only by confronting and discussing these issues that we come to a truer understanding of what is best for our clients and for us an organization.  Our goal is that every time we meet as an organization, that we allow for free discussion and inquiry into these topics.