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Too much of everything is bad. So is the case with so-called leisure drugs. SAP (Substance Abuse Professional) is required to conduct evaluations by DOT (Department of Transportation) for all the employees working in the safety-sensitive positions. The regulations are updated by DOT itself. Hereby, all the individuals holding the commercial driving license (CDL) are required to get themselves tested for:

1. Pre-employment,
2. Post-accident, 
3. In presence of reasonable suspicion, and
4. Drug and Alcohol tests under Return-to-duty (RTD)

This is a legitimate process ordered by DOT.

The purpose of SAP evaluation is to make sure that employees in case-sensitive duties remain mentally and physically fit on/off the job. Any individual who tests positive for drug and alcohol abuse is referred to SAP for evaluation. He can only return to his duty after going through the (RTD-Return To Duty) process as specified by DOT against the violence committed in terms of Drug and Alcohol abuse. 

SAP himself is a user in the clearinghouse who is also required to register himself for conducting evaluations.

If you face the same situation, you can fix your appointment as soon as possible to qualify the RTD process and re-join your position.

SAP evaluation involves the following stages:

• Clinical interview 

This stage helps SAP in finding the presence of a problem with the person under evaluation. It leads with a simple yes or no, directing the presence or absence of underlying issues with a person’s behavior or habit. 

• Assessment: 

Once the problem has been diagnosed, it is followed by a deep understanding of the nature of the patient’s problem, followed by the treatment suggestion for handling his violent nature or drug abuse.

The follow-up SAP Evaluation:

SAP determines the positive completion of the patient’s treatment under him. On the completion of the whole process, he has to issue

1. Notice with a “Notice of Compliance,” or a “Notice of Noncompliance,” depending upon the employee’s performance throughout the treatment program under him.
2. Additional educational classes or treatment (if needed) along with post-care suggestions, if deemed necessary.
3. Final written report to DER (Designated Employer Representative)

If you know someone who needs immediate assistance, feel free to contact American Alternative Court Services. Our services have a proven record of helping individuals with a comprehensive, and personalized assessment and directing them towards living healthy lives. 

Information Source:

SAMHSA | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

The 8-Hour 420 Marijuana Class is an educational program designed by the leading institute of life. The curriculum helps people download exquisite options, and it is an excellent consciousness program for people involved in high content behavior. 

The first for the life of 8 hours 420 The marijuana class explores the poor and compelling psychoactive nature of the cannabis plant. The discussion allows you to examine the potential medical use of CBD oil concerning the consumed compelling product. Prime for life 420 is an excellent way to start the self-processing process and determine your job level with cannabis. 

All sessions begin promptly at their planned time. Students must be on time, and there are no exceptions for this. Once a session starts, the doors will be blocked, and any student who has not arrived in time will be asked to be reappeared and reimbursed to attend a new course.  

SAC offers the Marijuana course for adults 420, which uses an 8-hour life curriculum for life 420. This curriculum is a motivational risk reduction course specifically focused on the use of marijuana. The 420 adult course offers the opportunity to reflect on the impact that marijuana can have on all sizes of a person’s life. 

Throughout the course, a participant will be provided that the tools are more aware of what they evaluate, what they risk, and how to protect things that relate to their lives. The adult 420 course helps promote attitudes, beliefs, and understanding that helps people reduce the risk of any problem of using the substance.  

This course has been introduced with an initiative to help people realize the possible ill effects of smoking marijuana. The classes intend to educate people about all the minute details for a better future and healthy life. 

It is possible to get confused between the right options for you. Recently, many people are recommended by their professionals to go for Outpatient Rehab. The rehab for drugs now has many types of treatments for the candidates. But, if you are confused about it, some factors will help you identify if this type is the best choice for you.

1. Your emotional and physical activities are not unstable because of drug or alcohol use.
2. You don’t need to be supervised all day long to control your addiction from substance usage.
3. After assessing your reports, you don’t need any type of intensive care for the rehabilitation process.
4. Your family members, children, spouse or people in your surrounding are stable and sober people.
5. You have decided to channel your energy into getting rid of the bad habit of drug abuse.
6. When you are with your children, you get motivated, and it is easy to avoid the craving or trigger for substance usage.

However, if you think this can be done without any professional. Then, this is not advised; a clinical professional will be able to advise you to take the outpatient treatment better. They can also advise you on the important major level of things you should avoid.

For drug rehabilitation, people are way comfortable with this choice of treatment. There are also evidence that this type of treatment works better as residential treatment has instances of increasing the stress among the clients.

Especially in those clients when they are not severely addicted and have responsibilities on them. In such scenarios, it was seen that individuals co-operate and recover better with a supportive environment of their family. So, yes, but the individual must be dedicated to getting rid of this addiction.

All you have to do in this type of treatment is visit the clinic as advised by your professional. After that, your schedule will be made on the basis of your occupation and responsibilities. Hence, it becomes easier to get rid of the habit without disturbing your routine or missing any responsibilities towards your children.

Don’t think twice if you know you are stuck with the addiction to the substance. It is evident that the addiction can be recovered by a proper method of rehabilitation. Check here to know the benefits of getting rehab treatment.

1. Getting rid of the addiction as soon as possible can also improve your health. Excess drug or alcohol use leads to the declination of your health.
2. While being sober, you can also spend more quality time with your loved ones, and this will make the bond stronger.
3. When you start recovering from your addiction, you will realize how much of your money was invested in such substances. And, getting rid of them is saving a huge amount.
4. Sobriety reflects on your health and appearance. In intoxication, you might look shabby and won’t care about it. But, when you are sober, you will take care of your appearance and feel confident about it.

While going for rehabs, people always tend to confuse if the treatment is the right choice for them or not. So, here are some tips to let you, IOP is the best choice for you. While going for the treatment, you must ensure that you are meeting these criteria –

• IOPs are usually a step next to the treatment in outpatient programs, these help in keeping the environment calm. So, make sure you don’t have excess tension or any factors that can trigger you to reuse the substances.
• Your family members or anyone close to you is sober. Most importantly, they can support you and understand you.
• You are now ready to recover by putting in your dedication without any excuses. You are determined to achieve sobriety. The journey can be tough without any determination.
• You won’t be able to stay long in a rehab because of the responsibilities of your home, children or office. Rather staying away from home is causing you stress.

If employees supervised by the Department of Transportation (DOT) refuse a drug/alcohol test or test positive, they must complete the ReturntoDuty process before returning to safety-related work tasks. 

The first step in the process is an assessment by a Substance Abuse Assessment – SAP for DOT

-qualified substance abuse expert (SAP). If you are in this position, how are you going? This is a quick reference guide for the American Drug Abuse Professionals Corporation (ASAP). 

What will happen to the SAP assessment? 

First, you will meet with a DOT-qualified substance abuse specialist (SAP) for evaluation. SAP is an integral part of the SAP assessment because it has extensive experience diagnosing and treating substance use and training in 49 CFR Part 40 of the Ministry of Transportation and its regulatory agencies. Your job is to ensure that you have the tools to return to work safely after a failed drug test. 

During the evaluation, SAP will check your case, fill in one or more evaluation tools and ask specific questions for more information. There is no need to be nervous and answer questions honestly, just like you do during therapy sessions or talking with friends. 

How many SAP assessments do you need? 

You have completed at least two SAP evaluations. One will happen at the beginning, and one will happen at the end. If you have any questions along the way, you can check-in at any time. 

What should you do between the two SAP assessments? 

You need to complete your SAP processing and training recommendations between your SAP assessments, and failure to do so will only delay your return to work. Without completing the SAP process, you must not carry out any safety-related work in the area supervised by the DOT. 

This also applies if you fail the DOT test before hiring or rejecting the DOT drug test. If you have any questions about treatment, please feel free to contact your ASAP case manager and your SAP, and they provide you with guidance and support throughout the RTD program.

Information Source:

SAMHSA | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

An SAP for DOT evaluates and makes recommendations on employees who have violated a department of transportation (DOT) drug and alcohol program regulation. 

An SAP evaluation or drug abuse evaluation may be a face-to-face clinical assessment of a private to work out what they have to resolve their alcohol or drug use problems. Face to face is mandatory because this might offer important physical cues vital to the evaluation process. 

During the face to face evaluation, the SAP will determine whether the worker features a problem or addiction and assess the extent. This is often done by gathering a myriad of data. 

The SAP evaluation will include standardized testing, collection of data regarding the history and current drug/alcohol use, psychological state history, case history, social and physical health and random drug/alcohol testing. 

Attention will be placed upon the rule violation and why the worker must possess the SAP evaluation. Other information obtained during the evaluation is the problems with health, work, family, personal and interpersonal problems caused by use and current mental status.

Once the evaluation is complete, a diagnosis, course of treatment, and treatment plan are provided by the SAP. Therefore, the DOT employee must comply with returning to figure. 

A number of the recommendations, supported the evaluation might be for in-patient treatment, partial in-patient treatment, out-patient treatment, education schemes, and aftercare. If education is suggested, this might include education courses on drugs and alcohol, self-help groups, and community lectures.

The SAP may assist the worker in finding treatment providers for services since this is often not done by the SAP. However, this SAP position is that of a liaison and guide and thus cannot refer the worker to their practice. This is often to stop a conflict of interest.

Any third party can’t change the report provided to the employer, and employees and employers are prohibited from seeking a second SAP evaluation to get another recommendation. 

Once the worker has successfully complied with all recommendations, there’ll be a face to face follow-up evaluation. This evaluation will determine if all recommendations are completed and if aftercare is required and how many follow-up tests are needed.

Information Source:

SAMHSA | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

The case of driving under drug or alcohol influence is a serious charge. Hence, now the governments recommend attending DUI School to reduce the risk of going inebriated because neither the government wants to risk you nor anyone else because of such negligence.

A DUI charge can also result in canceling your license. Moreover, such serious issues can be avoided. However, these stay on your record for a longer time. And, if you are found guilty of doing such activities more than once, it can also cause severe penalties along with long jail time or imprisonment.

So, DUI programs are usually suggested to reduce the risk of similar incidences. In such programs, your addiction rate is examined, and the treatment is indicated according to that. The rate of risk differs from low to high. There is some advice for behaving or handling the evaluations.

Dos and Don’ts of Evaluation

Even if you feel defensive or you are feeling stressed with an urge to lie to prove your innocence. Just don’t do that. Lying in the evaluations cannot help you avoid the charges. Instead, it can increase the chances of potential harm.

Lying or whitewashing your present scenario will also harm you in the long run. As in the DUI programs, they usually assess your past behavior and give you advice or suggestion in recovering with the chances of reducing the risk.

The evaluation and programs are suggested to help you recover and don’t repeat the offense. Sitting in jail is way better than attending a DUI program and cooperating with it. If you are a heavy drinker, you might feel the urge to get intoxicated.

But, don’t do that; it can risk you in severe charges. Instead, calmly co-operate with the professional in your session, take the educational treatment seriously with the group tasks.

The government has decided to mandate a program for those convicted of the offense of driving under the influence. You can get it here in our DUI School – Risk Reduction Program – RRP. Once you complete the program, a certification will be issued to you over your performance.

The program is mandated in the cases of driving under the influence of the prohibited substance, driving with possession of an illegal substance, or possessing substance by an underage while operating the vehicle.

The main motive of keeping the program mandatory is to reduce the chances of the same offenses, keep an eye on the safety of the public, and ensure the health of the individual and their addiction from prohibited substance usage is also recovered.

After taking the risk reduction program, it is also evident that many individuals have benefitted from their addiction and impacting substance abuse. Certified professionals make the program to assess the candidates with utmost care.

Stages At-Risk Reduction Program

1. Assessment Stage
2. Intervention Component Stage

In the early stage of the program, the candidate is assessed on their usage of the alcohol and drug impacts and their behaviors. Later in the same stage, a comprehensive questionnaire is made to assess the candidate’s history of substance usage, triggers, and disorders (if any).

The questionnaire comprises 130 questions; make sure you answer the questions with honesty. Violation of the test advised by the law can also lead you to severe punishments. Moreover, these tests can help you cope up with your addictions, too, stay honest with them.

Then, after completion of the questionnaire comes the second stage. The intervention stage can take up to 20 hours, depending on the prescribed time by your professional. But, don’t worry; you don’t have to sit for 20 hours straight. The session is covered by taking several days.

It is not a tough task; it is more like a therapeutic and counselling session. In the session, the educational values and risks of driving under the influence will be elaborated. Your curriculum can vary up to your risk level and your addiction severity, it helps you with coping up with the trigger too.

Increasing cases of family violence have been a concern for the government from a long time. Major reason behind violence with family members is the inability to deal with emotions under a particular circumstance. Many people can’t control their anger and want to dominate over the other partner. American Alternative Court Services has been contributing to the society with online family violence class by educating people on ways to deal with family violence.

Procedure followed in the class

The complete family violence intervention program is designed for the duration of 24 weeks. Interactive online family violence class enables the people to recognize their anger triggering points. People can openly discuss about the problems they face.

The thought process of a person is analysed and then a few changes are suggested by the friendly counselors that may help in coping up with anger. Motive of these classes is to make people recover and take complete control over their emotions. After the successful completion of online family violence class, a person has a fair idea of how to control anger and replace it with a much healthier response.

Online Family Violence Class at AACS

If you are concerned about your own violent behaviour or any other family member, then fill the sign up form for the classes. There is also no need to go anywhere because online mode of classes is available for people. Court-approved classes are conducted separately for different genders to facilitate openness and comfort level for discussion.

Physical, mental and emotional abuse can snatch away the happiness of any family. Even the childhood of the kids gets badly affected due to awful environment at home. So, don’t let yourself and the family members suffer. Take an initiative to bring small changes by learning from online family violence class at AACS and live a happy life.

It is a serious crime to drive under the influence of alcohol or drug. This not only impacts the roadways but also affects the health of a person. Considering it as a violation of law, the individual must undergo assessment and then only he or she would be able to resume the duty. Online out of state evaluation by AACS is a program that allows the people to get the evaluation process done in a quick and convenient way.

Different states may abide by different rules and regulations. For example, if there is a driver from Georgia who has received a DUI from any other state, then he has to successfully complete DUI School, substance treatment program and clinical evaluation. The counselors are well-aware of the laws set by different states and strive to provide right evaluation report that would be accepted easily by the court and employer.

Whole procedure of assessment is quite simple. The person should book an appointment for the online out of state evaluation and submit all the documents that are given by other state. Evaluator takes a question and answers session with the accused and then gives various suggestions and programs that a person must undertake in order to go back to work.

The interview process usually takes an hour to complete, but it may extend longer if you have DUI arrest. Don’t be scared before the evaluation, as the counselors and staff at AACS is friendly and helpful. Best possible help is provided to finish the process within a limited time frame. But, it also depends on the person how he behaves in the evaluation process. If he is ready to accept the mistake and wants to improve, then the process becomes easy.

Now that you are well-versed with the pros of online out of state evaluation by AACS, just sign up the form for further process.