An Approach to Effective DWI Intervention: Dakota County Community Corrections Safe Streets First Program

Legal sanctions such as jail, fines, suspension or revocation of the driver's license are the ultimate response of traffic law systems to alcohol-impaired driving. In recent years, more attention is being paid to alternative sanctions, including referral of drivers to treatment and education, community service in lieu of or in addition to jail, electronic monitoring, intensive supervision probation, impoundment or forfeiture of vehicles or license plates, victim restitution, ignition interlocks, and using license plates that identify the vehicle owner as an impaired driver among other sanctions.Strong empirical evidence has been accumulating, especially during the past twenty years, that alcohol and drug abuse treatment not only reduces alcohol and other drug use, but also reduces criminal activity. The Minnesota Department of Human Services report, The Challenges and Benefits of Chemical Dependency Treatment (2000), noted that offenders who completed treatment had fewer arrest and criminal behavior in the following six months.The purpose of this study was to explore long- term intensive outpatient chemical dependency treatment coupled with cognitive skills training and its role as a successful intervention tool with DWI offenders. With the chronic impaired driver, chemical dependency is a condition of relapse in which multiple elements must be addressed, many treatment episodes are usually necessary, and subsequent treatment should build on the skills gained through prior treatment.