I'll have someone in my office accused of violating a rule and they'll say "where's the evidence?". Who told you that? How do I know they're telling the truth? There's no proof. On and on.
They might've stolen something. Violated curfew. Perhaps engaged in sexual behavior. Whatever it is, most of the time the offender will deny the allegations.
Generally, most information we get comes from other clients. Either from those who don't want to get into trouble. Or else those who are working on recovery and want to live in a clean environment.
The thing I explain is that just because they're accused of something they don't get a jury trial. We don't have time to investigate all the details when a client does wrong.
Instead, we look at a client's previous history. How often they've been in trouble. We consider as many factors as possible before we decide on consequences. And usually staff has discussed the client beforehand. We've pretty decided what we're going to do.
In general, consequences aren't big. Unless a person has violated rules about sexual behavior, threats of violence, or using substances, their consequences are small. Maybe write a paper, apologize to the house, or do extra chores. We never discharge clients unless they are completely resistant.
But in the final analysis TLC is not a democracy. We don't have due process. It's more of a benevolent dictatorship where we make decisions in the best interests of both the client and the program.
