@gjohnsit
"professionals at lying to themselves" I mean junkies, not transsexuals.
Just so I'm clear.

One last thing, where are these thousands of broken men supposed to go once you close down all the ARCs?
Maybe another system exists that I'm not aware of, but I don't know of it.
However, I do see a lot of back alleys.

#1.1.1.1
before declaring your verdict. You should talk to someone that's been in the program.
I have. And I happen to know you are wrong. It's not a matter of opinion. It's a fact.

Let me first say that I'm not religious. I don't believe that Christ is my lawd and saviour.
Plus I do have a few issues with the SA, but none of those issues are with their ARC program.

Let me give you an idea.
In an ARC, no man is allowed under any circumstance to go into the women's dorms, unless it was scheduled ahead of time and he's accompanied by a female employee. This includes male SA employees. Male ARC clients aren't allowed in the women's dorms, period.

There are two reasons for this:
1) most of those women have been abused by men, and
2) the condition of the men that arrive at the ARCs.

Everyone that arrives at an ARC is a substance addict and has already burnt everyone of their bridges. They don't have a single friend or family member left that will trust them. They've lost their self-respect.
They are, as one ARC director once told me, "broken men".

Now you are going to tell me that the ARC staff, most of whom are former ARC clients, are supposed to take the word of someone who shows up at their door and tells them that they identify as a different sex?
These are people who have are professionals at lying to themselves!
There is simply no way that this can work in practice. Not with the population we are talking about here.
Not without a horrifying sexual assault case appearing very quickly in the news. Followed just as quickly by the ARC program being shut down.

As for the value of the ARC program, show me a similar program with a proven track record.

@gjohnsit

The more I research and look into this organization, the more offensive it gets.

'Work Therapy’ — How the Salvation Army’s chain of rehab centers exploit unpaid labor

Don Coombs, program director of the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center Command, Eastern Territory, sent the information to me via email and I obtained written permission to cite him as my source.
...
What sort of outcomes do these programs have? Coombs stated that no records of success rates were kept, but that the completion rate for the program was 17 percent.

You cannot claim they have a "proven track record" of success when they don't have any track record of success (for the clients) by their own design. And a 17% "completion" rate (even without successs) is pathetically low.

Why so low? Any use of alcohol or drugs results in immediate termination from the program. However, it is also likely that many clients find they would prefer sleeping on the streets to being exploited as slave labor and having their rights to freedom of religion violated on a daily basis.

They have no compunction about throwing out people anyway.

Coombs stated that most clients are either homeless or court-ordered.

Should they decide to leave the program, their only options are often to go to prison (if they are court-ordered) or to return to living on the streets.

Forcing people into a Christian church that exploits their labor, or go to prison. By court order. How is this not unconstitutional? I think it is, but that's so quaint in this day and age, isn't it.

What does therapy in ARC consist of? The primary form is “work therapy.” In exchange for three hots and a cot, the Salvation Army’s rehab clients are expected to labor for 40 hours a week, without pay, for the profit of the Salvation Army stores.

Doing toxic jobs like sorting soiled "donations are often tainted with feces or vomit" -- with no protection from biohazards. And janitorial tasks. This cures addiction? No.

In addition to work therapy, other therapy consists of mandatory Bible study and mandatory participation in Salvation Army worship services.

Oh, well then. That cures addiction, right? No.

Do they provide any actual treatment or therapy? No.

Clinical services for mental health and/or chemical dependency most likely are referred to local agencies.

They literally don't even try to provide treatment or rehabilitation services. Calling these places "rehabilitation centers" is completely dishonest. And it should be illegal for anyone to be court ordered into a church -- any church. But this one in particular seriously exploits people in a massive scam.

According to Forbes, the Salvation Army is currently the second largest charity in the United States, with an annual income of $4.1 billion from donations, investments, sales and other sources. Its full financials can be found here (note that all amounts are in thousands of dollars).

With this kind of budget, the Salvation Army could surely do better than sleeping 20 people to a room, using them as slave labor, and achieving a completion rate of 17 percent. Instead, they could be offering decent housing, decent wages, and the best evidence-based treatment, which includes, for example, a non-abstinence-based housing model.
...
Although in its financial statement the Salvation Army claims that 21 percent of its expenditure, $702,539,000, is spent on “rehabilitation,” there is little evidence that this money is spent on the clients. Looking at the fact that average occupancy of the program is 7,700 clients, this would work out to over $90,000 per client year. It surely seems that clients are not receiving $90,000-a-year’s worth of services; on the contrary, the Salvation Army is receiving tens of thousands of dollars of free labor per client year.

This article goes on, there is much more. It's astonishing. And again, this article is just one of many, many accounts I've found from multiple sources, including many first-person accounts along with journalistic reviews like this one.

SA exploits vulnerable people and is scamming billions of dollars from people thinking it's a worthwhile "charity." I've gone from indifference/mild annoyance (at the incessant bell ringers), to feeling outraged. These so-called "rehabilitation" centers absolutely should be shut down. They are awful.

You ask what should be done about the people they are exploiting? Well, with just a fraction of the over 4 billion dollars a year they rake in, I think something could be figured out. Like maybe expanding real evidence-based programs and services that actually make a positive difference.

Using poverty, the courts, and the drug war to shunt people into this exploitive organization is unconscionable. I wish something could be done to stop this. At least people should know the truth of what they do and stop donating to them.

#1.1.1.1
before declaring your verdict. You should talk to someone that's been in the program.
I have. And I happen to know you are wrong. It's not a matter of opinion. It's a fact.

Let me first say that I'm not religious. I don't believe that Christ is my lawd and saviour.
Plus I do have a few issues with the SA, but none of those issues are with their ARC program.

Let me give you an idea.
In an ARC, no man is allowed under any circumstance to go into the women's dorms, unless it was scheduled ahead of time and he's accompanied by a female employee. This includes male SA employees. Male ARC clients aren't allowed in the women's dorms, period.

There are two reasons for this:
1) most of those women have been abused by men, and
2) the condition of the men that arrive at the ARCs.

Everyone that arrives at an ARC is a substance addict and has already burnt everyone of their bridges. They don't have a single friend or family member left that will trust them. They've lost their self-respect.
They are, as one ARC director once told me, "broken men".

Now you are going to tell me that the ARC staff, most of whom are former ARC clients, are supposed to take the word of someone who shows up at their door and tells them that they identify as a different sex?
These are people who have are professionals at lying to themselves!
There is simply no way that this can work in practice. Not with the population we are talking about here.
Not without a horrifying sexual assault case appearing very quickly in the news. Followed just as quickly by the ARC program being shut down.

As for the value of the ARC program, show me a similar program with a proven track record.