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Good afternoon Mike,
 
This e-mail is to notify you that you the NCCA Commission met via conference call this morning and granted accreditation to the CADDTP’s CAODC certification program!  Congratulations on this accreditation and thank you for your hard work in preparing all of the materials for the Commission to review.  We will be notifying the State of California that this program has been accredited in line to meet their September 30th, 2007 deadline.  You will also receive your official accreditation letter within the next few weeks.  If you have any questions in the meantime, please let me know.
 
Sincerely,

Liz Grater

Sr. Administrative Associate

The California Association of Drinking Driver Treatment Programs, also commonly referred to as "CADDTP", is a non-profit, mutual benefit organization, which was originally formed as an association in 1986 and then incorporated in 1988. CADDTP is self-supported through membership dues, association activities, and contributions. There are several categories of active membership in CADDTP: (1) organizational membership is limited to state-licensed driving-under-the-influence, or "DUI", programs; (2) individual membership is open to most individuals; and (3) associate membership is designated for those other organizations who wish to participate in and support the Association. CADDTP's policies are established by a volunteer board of directors, which is elected from among those individuals who are the designated representatives of organizational members.

CADDTP's organizational membership currently includes a majority of the several hundred DUI programs licensed by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. Almost 200 persons, most of who are employed in DUI programs as counselors, instructors, and/or administrators, comprise CADDTP's individual membership.

CADDTP is a pro-active organization which seeks to promote understanding of, improve, and sometimes preserve, the role of the state-licensed driving-under-the-influence (education and counseling) programs in California's approach to alcohol and other drug impaired driving. CADDTP also seeks to evaluate and enhance the services offered by its members and others in providing DUI programs throughout the state.  CADDTP is one of the ten organizations currently named in the California Administrative Code, Title 9, Section 13035, with authorization to certify individuals as alcohol or other drug counselors.  Such certification is required of counselors who work in state-licensed DUI programs.  CADDTP believes it is a significant part of its responsibility to its members and to the DUI program field, in general, to provide this service and to keep the costs of certification reasonable.  The following is a sampling of a few major areas of the Association's activities in furtherance of its goals:

Since 1987, CADDTP has successfully "sponsored" ten legislative measures (the eleventh is in the final stages of approval) and has been materially involved in the development, or revision, of a number of other legislative proposals. Of the measures sponsored by CADDTP, several have significantly impacted the nature of California's licensed DUI program "system". For example, a 1987 bill created the innovative 30 Month Program for 3rd and subsequent (chronic) DUI offenders. In 1989, CADDTP sponsored the measure that standardized California's first offender programs to include, among other things, minimum requirements for education and counseling services. The bill also brought these programs under state licensure and regulation. Both the 1987 and 1989 measures contained mandatory evaluation components. In 1991, CADDTP sponsored Senate Bill 311 which, among other things, essentially made satisfactory completion of the appropriate, licensed DUI program a pre-requisite for license re-instatement for ALL those (first or multiple offenders) who have had a suspension or revocation as a result of a DUI-related conviction. A subsequent CADDTP-sponsored measure, 1992's Senate Bill 1650, dealt further with mandatory program completion for those who have been convicted of a DUI. A 1998 bill, sponsored by CADDTP and enacted into law, requires all those who plead to "wet reckless" driving to complete, at a minimum, the educational component of a licensed DUI program as a condition of probation. The most recent measure, Assembly Bill 803, effective in 2001 added the same educational component requirement for those 18 to 21 years of age who have been found to have been driving with a BAC of 0.05 to 0.08.

CADDTP has also impacted measures sponsored by others in the past decade. Suggestions and/or legislative language originating with the Association appear in California statutes dealing with program licensure, admin per se license suspension or revocation, ignition interlock devices, and other DUI-related matters - even the "boating-under-the-influence" law.

The Association is also a participating member of a DUI discussion group of interested organizations, originally formed by Senator Bill Lockyer, the former President pro Tem of the California State Senate and now the California Attorney General. This informal group reviews proposed DUI legislation and attempts to develop legislative proposals to make this state's DUI laws, in then Senator Lockyer's term, "user friendly". (Senator Lockyer's staff indicated that a meeting with CADDTP's members triggered his interest in undertaking this formidable task.) The group developed three major legislative bills for Senator Lockyer beginning in 1992, and all three became law. Due to changes in the State Senate, the group now meets with staff from the Senate Public Safety Committee. Senate Bill 1186 (1998) and Senate Bill 24 (1999) are the most recent products of this group’s deliberations. These bills almost totally re-codified the DUI laws in California to make them "user friendly".

CADDTP was also the driving force behind the establishment of the Ad Hoc DUI Program Group, now the (standing) DUI Advisory Work Group, by the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. This committee, which includes representatives from the state, the counties, and programs, meets regularly to discuss and develop proposals to make California’s DUI programs more effective and practical. Representatives from the Department of Motor Vehicles and Judicial Council were added to the Committee’s membership approximately two years ago. This group also has the "first review" option regarding DUI program regulations which are being considered by the Department.

CADDTP began holding semi-annual educational forums, open to both members and non-members, in 1987. The forums have evolved to include issues that address both the internal and external concerns of DUI program operators and staff members. For example, the  Spring 2006 Forum, in Sacramento, included sessions on upcoming regulations, the developing electronic interface system between the DUI programs and the Department of Motor Vehicles, a counselor skills building workshop, professional boundaries, and others.  The Fall 2006 Forum will include a six hour session on the methamphetamine epidemic and its potential impact on DUI programs, the progress of DUI courts around the country, and others.

The Association began a staff "certificating" program in 1988. At that time, California's state regulations prescribed the qualifications for those who work as counselors, instructors, and administrators in licensed DUI programs. CADDTP developed a procedure to verify an individual's credentials vis-à-vis the regulations. In April of 2005, the Department of Alcohol & Drug Programs amended the regulations, and a new procedure was required for certification of alcohol and other drug counselors.  As previously indicated, CADDTP was one of the ten organizations recognized to certify individuals in the regulations.  Since that time, CADDTP has certified over 1,000 counselors, most of whom work in DUI programs.

CADDTP’s current requirements for counselor certification exceed the minimums in the state regulations in regard to alcohol and other drug education, i.e., CADDTP requires at least 320 hours of formal post-secondary classroom education (the regulations require only 155 hours).  This education must be completed prior to being eligible to take the certification examination.  All applicants must have agreed to abide by CADDTP’s Code of Ethics, in writing, when applying.  Prior to certification, applicants must also complete 160 hours of “supervised training” and 2080 hours of “paid or unpaid work experience”, as specified in the regulations. After completing all of the prerequisites, including achieving a passing (as determined by the “cut score” study) score on the exam, applicants will be certified for a period of two years.  CADDTP must also determine that individuals have not been certified and then had that certification revoked by any of the other certifying entities.  This is done by reviewing the database each entity is required to publish on the Internet.

To renew, certified individuals must show proof that they have completed at least forty hours of continuing education, in subject areas specified in the state regulations, in the previous twenty-four months.  Renewals are for a period of two years.

CADDTP places heavy emphasis on regular communications with its membership about the Association's activities and developments in the DUI field. Such communication is primarily accomplished through periodic newsletters, regular reports on legislation, other "special" reports, and bulletins. Meetings of the CADDTP's board of directors and members are held at least twice a year preceding the educational forums.

CADDTP also takes care to maintain communications with, and to encourage feedback from, others who share its interests in impaired driving. This group, includes various state agencies (e.g. the Department of Motor Vehicles, Office of Traffic Safety, Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a number of judges and law enforcement officers, county alcohol program administrators, and others).

In the past, CADDTP has also conducted special communications projects such as placing paid informational bulletins in the legal community's newspapers and establishing a toll-free "800" phone service to provide information and answer questions about the treatment program requirements in California.

There is a growing body of evidence that California’s system of license sanctions AND DUI education/counseling programs are the most effective ways to reduce subsequent DUI incidents among those who have been convicted of DUI. (Source: California Department of Motor Vehicles' 1995 through 2005 Annual Reports of the California DUI Management Information System) California's DUI program network is arguably the most inclusive, structured, and complex one in the United States: (1) all the programs in that network must be licensed by the state and monitored by their respective counties, (2) they must conform to statewide education, counseling, and other requirements, and (3) with minor and controlled exceptions for rural areas, all of the programs in the network must be self-supporting through fees paid by participants. Yet, by law no one who is unable to pay can be denied services.

For two decades, the California DUI program network has been providing services to well over 120 thousand impaired drivers per year at no cost to taxpayers. Even though the total number of DUI-related fatalities has risen slightly in the past several years, they are still markedly lower that they were before California’s DUI program system was established.  DUI-related arrests have also dramatically lowered during this time, and recidivism continues to decline.   CADDTP believes that future studies and evaluations will show that the DUI programs are not only an important component in preventing recidivism, but that they are also a wide-reaching and effective means of moving alcohol and other drug dependent individuals toward long-term recovery. CADDTP will continue to work to improve and promote understanding of those programs.