Your W/IDIP Intake Interview: Welcome My Son, Welcome To The Machine.

Your W/IDIP Intake Interview

What happens at your intake interview is dictated by He-A 707.10:

 He-A 707.10  IDIP and WIDIP Intake Interview.

      (a)  There shall be an initial one-on-one intake interview between the client and a NH LADC, or an IDIP or WIDIP staff member under LADC supervision.

      (b)  The intake interview shall take place prior to, and separate from, course sessions.

      (c)  The intake interview shall include the following steps:

(1)  Each client shall provide the IDIP or WIDIP with the documents required pursuant to He-A 704.04;

(2)  The client shall complete the DRI-II and the RIASI diagnostic instruments;

(3)  The LADC shall complete Form IDIP-011, client profile, by including the following printed or typewritten information:

a.  The facility code;

b.  The section where the client is assigned;

c.  The last four digits of the client’s Social Security number;

d.  The client’s name;

e.  The client’s initials;

f.  The program type;

g.  The client’s address;

h.  The client’s date of birth;

i.  The date of the client’s intake interview;

j.  The client’s gender;

k.  Whether the client is restarting a program;

l.  The court of the client’s conviction;

m.  The date of the client’s arrest;

n.  The client’s blood alcohol test results, or an indication of the client’s refusal of consent;

o.  All of the client’s DWI convictions, including the current one, and drug impaired driving convictions, unless otherwise protected by law;

p.  All DWI courses previously attended by the client;

q.  The client’s marital status;

r.  The client’s education level;

s.  The client’s occupation;

t.  The client’s current income;

u.  Whether the program fee was reduced due to financial hardship;

v.  The client’s history of treatment for any other alcohol or other substance abuse problem;

w.  The frequency of alcohol consumption in the past;

x.  The client’s scores on the DRI-II and RIASI diagnostic instruments; and

y.  The signature of the LADC completing the top of the form, which shall not be printed or typewritten;

(4)  The client shall provide to the LADC completing Form IDIP-011, client profile, the information required in (3)c., o. through t., v., and w.;

(5)  The client shall complete Form IDIP-019, consent for the release of confidential information, specifically for the department, the convicting court, and the department of safety, by including:

a.  The client’s name;

b.  The name and address of the convicting court; and

c.  The client’s dated signature;

(6)  The provider staff member shall sign and date Form IDIP-019, consent for the release of confidential information;

(7)  The client shall read and complete either Form IDIP-014, IDIP client agreement, or Form IDIP-015, WIDIP client agreement, by including:

a.  The client’s name; and

b.  The client’s dated signature, indicating that he or she has read the form and agrees to attend the identified sessions; and

(8)  The provider staff member shall complete either Form IDIP-014, IDIP client agreement, or Form IDIP-015, WIDIP client agreement, by including:

a.  The class location of the IDIP or WIDIP, including the street address, city or town, and telephone number;

b.  All scheduled session days, dates, times, and instructors; and

c.  The dated signature of the IDIP or WIDIP staff member.

     (d)  The client shall read, complete, and sign any other forms and materials that describe the provider’s individual IDIP or WIDIP policies and procedures or that offer other information related to the program.

What Happens During Your W/IDIP Intake Interview

You arrive at Amethyst Foundation in Epping at the appointed time with your required paperwork:

• an original certified copy of your driving record, no older than 60 days, from New Hampshire, any state in which you hold a driver's license, and any state in which you've been arrested or convicted on a DWI/DUI
• Your Department of Safety Notice Of Action indicating what program you are to take (i.e., IDIP)
• Superior or district court orders
• Chemical test results

If you forget any of these, or you attend an interview for the wrong program, you are rescheduled and charged an "administration fee" ($50 if IDIP, $100 if WIDIP, etc...).

You give these to the intake interviewer, who will be a LADC or, more likely, supervised staff member.

You then take two assessment exams; the RIASI (Research Institute on Addictions Self-Inventory) and DRI-II (Driver Risk Inventory-II).

The RIASI is the 1995 edition of the diagnostic instrument created by Thomas J. Nochasjski of the State University of New York that is specifically designed for DWI offenders.  I have posted the actual RIASI test you will take here.  You can see that the questions are pretty straightforward.  Be careful about the questions that seem to be asking about something else but are actually asking about your alcohol/drug use, stress coping, or agressiveness.  These are the nonobvious, subtle questions that I wrote about previously, here.

The DRI-II is the first edition, published in 1997, of the driving while impaired risk and needs assessment instrument created by Behavioral Data Systems, Ltd., which supposedly evaluates alcohol and other drug abuse, identifies driver aggressiveness, and measures stress coping abilities.  I do not have a copy of the DRI-II test, but the questions are very similar to those of the RIASI test.

Both tests are complete baloney and there is no scientific evidence at all that they are predictive for DUI/DWI reoffending.  Everyone, if they answer truthfully, will score as an alcoholic/drug addict on the RIASI.  The same is true for the DRI-II.  There are scientific papers showing the unreliability of the RIASI.  All but two of the studies done on the DRI-II, however, were conducted by Behavioral Data Systems, Ltd., the company that makes and sells it, so, of course, it works just smashingly.  The two non-BDS authored studies are severely flawed in methodology and are inconclusive.  Both the RIASI and DRI-II exams are garbage (I'll cover this topic in a later post).  But they are easy and cheap to administer, and give the appearance of being accurate and "scientific," so the state and recovery industry love them.

The DRI-II claims to measure "truthfulness" which you need to be very careful about.  I was completely honest when I took the DRI-II the first time, but I flunked the "truthfulness" component.

I really hate to advise anyone to do this, but I in this instance I have to.  LIE.  Lie on both exams.  You never drank or took drugs except for the night of the DUI/DWI.  For the DRI-II, you will take this again at the end of your assigned aftercare, so remember your lies, so that you can repeat them the second time you take it.  The DRI-II test compares the answers you give on the second administration to the the answers you gave on the first administration.  Just be consistent.  You are an angel who never took a drink or drug until your DUI/DWI...got it?  Good.

The people at Amethyst Foundation will do everything in their power to get you to be honest.  They will pretend to want to help you, or will suggest that there will be no consequences to your admissions.  Do not fool yourself.  They only want to get you to admit that you are an alcoholic or drug abuser and then punish you.

Why would they want to do that?

Because they are all former hardcore down and out alcoholics that have gone through AA.  They see everyone who gets arrested for a DUI/DWI as an alcoholic.  AA is a religious-based organization whose 10th and 12th steps mandate that members continue lifelong participation in the program and "carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs."  They see you as an "unfortunate" and want to save you.

And also because these are people who are angry at the world for their past and current problems and who have now been given some power.  You'll see that these are very spiteful, petty people.

So, in conclusion, lie on the RIASI and two administered DRI-II exams.  They are rigged against you.  Answer truthfully and you will be labelled an alcoholic or drug user by Amethyst and you can kiss your license goodbye for at least nine months while you attend AA meetings and pay for expensive weekly counseling sessions with a LADC (which are not covered by insurance).

Other Intake Paperwork

In addition to the assessment tests, you'll also have to fill out a bunch of paperwork, the most important of which is IDIP-019, the consent for release of confidential information, specifically for the Department of Health and Human Services, the convicting court, and the Department of Safety.  Once you sign this, be aware that anything you say or do from now on will not confidential and will be used against you.  Even statements made during aftercare AA meetings and individual LADC "counseling" sessions will be used against you (see the previous post for an outrageous example of this).  So be paranoid from this point onward.

Miscellaneous

I've been told that the intake interviewers will also take notes regarding your appearance, manners, punctuality, and anything else that might indicate alcohol or substance abuse.  Make sure you are clean (haircut, shave, use visine, mouthwash, etc...), dress well in ironed clothing, sit up straight, maintain eye contact, be calm, don't fidget, and be polite.  Do not smell of tobacco smoke (a symptom to them of an addictive personality) or alcohol.  Don't appear too intelligent.  They would probably love seeing some subtle indication that you are christian (jewelry, necklace?).

I doubt if my intake interviewer would have noticed, though.  (See below.)

My Intake

My intake was pretty routine.  It was performed by an old lady training to become a LADC.  She arrived almost a half-hour late, looked hungover in ragged clothing and uncombed/undyed hair, and shuffled, stumbled, and mumbled her way through the paperwork.  Multiple times I had to correct her instructions or redo the paperwork because of her confusion.  One of the Amethyst Foundation administrators (one of the few there that seems somewhat together) yelled at her several times, when she arrive late, and when she went to ask for help.  That wasn't bad--at least she wasn't one of the mean ones.  You'll meet those.

So, good luck.  Be paranoid.  Lie. Remember your lies so that you lie consistently (especially on the second DRI-II test).  Keep your mouth shut and incriminate yourself as little as possible.  Pretend you are stupid--they like that.