My name is Gordon Thompson is today is July 7, 2016. The topic for today’s podcast is telephonic screening for alcohol and substance abuse counseling for DUIs in Arizona.
In Arizona in connection with a DUI incident there are two circumstances under which a person would have to go through a screening session for possible alcohol or substance abuse counseling. The first of which is if the person’s driver’s license or Arizona privilege to drive has been suspended by the MVD, the Arizona Motor Vehicle Department, as a result of a DUI-related incident then in order to get the license or privilege to drive reinstated the person has to go through a screening session for possible counseling. For the MVD purposes the person doesn’t actually have to do the counseling but they’ve got to go through the screening session. So that is the first circumstance, namely to get the license reinstated that has been suspended by the motor vehicle department (MVD).
The second reason a person would have to go through a screening session for possible counseling would be if they are found guilty in court. All DUI sentences now require that a person go through a screening session for possible counseling as a result of a conviction, and so that would be the second reason.
The screening is strictly answering a series of questions as well as looking into the facts of the case and then using that information to classify the person as a level 1 offender or level 2 offender. The questions or facts are, for example, what is the alcohol level for the arrest, is it a .15% or more, that’s one factor. A second factor would be is has the person gotten a prior DUI conviction and had to do counseling as a result of that. Do they exhibit signs of possible alcohol abuse or a problem with alcohol? These factors are also considered sometimes in connection with a standardized risk assessment that psychologists use and based on that everyone would be classified as either a level 1 offender or level 2 offender. A level 1 offender would be somebody that has a potential problem and so the counseling recommendation that would come out of a level 1 assessment would be 16 hours of education and 20 or more hours of treatment. Remember again for motor vehicle (MVD) purposes the person is classified but they don’t actually have to do any counseling. For court purposes, they would have to do the counseling.
A few years ago, back in 2013 as a matter fact, to make matters easier for people to get through this process the Arizona Department of Behavioral Health authorized telephonic screening so that the person doesn’t have to go to a clinic or office to do it. All that you have to do is call up an agency, assuming that they do it telephonically and will do it over the phone. The screening takes about 45 minutes.
In connection with motor vehicle (MVD) proceedings what the screener would do, once the screening’s completed, they would electronically notify the motor vehicle department (MVD) the person has done the screening and that would clear the screening requirement in order to get the license or privilege to drive reinstated.
I use, whenever possible for my clients, an agency known as Arizona DUI Services, and they are very helpful in doing the screening by telephone and immediately getting the information to the MVD, so whenever possible that’s who I use and I would strongly recommend that if you need a screening session done to contact them.
So that is today’s podcast namely telephonic screening for alcohol and substance abuse counseling for DUIs.
If you have any questions please call me.
To reach out to Arizona DUI Services, contact Robin or Paul Fernandez:
https://arizonaduiservices.com/
(602) 882-4968