Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Participants: County Alcohol treatment program works

Todd Hunter has been sober for two-and-a-half years.

The 47-year-old Appleton man credits his sobriety in part to an alcohol program that will soon be available to convicted drunk drivers across the state.

After Hunter was convicted of his third drunken driving offense in 2007, his attorney suggested he participate in the Safe Streets Treatment Option Program, known as SSTOP. While he initially was leaning towards serving jail time, Hunter said he realized he had a problem with alcohol and that the yearlong program might help him address it.

“Honestly, sitting in jail like I did with my second drunk driving, I would have gotten out again and drank,” Hunter said. “My addiction and disease would have been sitting there, waiting.”

Hunter is one of 192 people who have successfully completed SSTOP, the alcohol component of Winnebago County’s Safe Streets Initiative, since it began three years ago. Another 150 people are currently going through the program.

The program will now be expanded statewide after Gov. Jim Doyle signed a drunken driving bill Tuesday. The changes take effect July 1.

SSTOP, which was launched as a pilot program in December 2006, allows OWI offenders who are convicted of their second or third drunken-driving offense to participate in a probation and treatment program in exchange for a reduced jail sentence.

Under current law, judges outside of Winnebago County have not been allowed to sentence drunk drivers to probation until the fourth offense.

Having that treatment and probation option available to second and third time offenders is a step towards addressing the alcohol issue that exists in Wisconsin, said Michael Olig, the Winnebago County SSTOP case manager.

“It’s a beginning and is a program that addresses some gaps in our current laws that don’t allow for probation for second and third OWIs,” Olig said. “It’s a positive thing that it’s going to be expanded.”

Participants in the program are under the supervision of Olig for a year and must remain sober while in the program. Random testing enforces the sobriety requirement.

In addition, participants must undergo an alcohol assessment, complete a driver’s safety program, which allows them to have an occupational driver’s license or get their license reinstated; and perform community service, Olig said. They also serve a reduced amount of time in jail, attend a drunken driving victim impact panel and pay fines associated with the conviction.

If participants do not comply with the rules, they can be sent back to the court and ordered to serve additional jail time.

So far the program seems to be working at addressing alcohol addiction while saving the county money.

While there are no studies that identify the recidivism rate for drunk drivers who will re-offend in Wisconsin, Olig said the recidivism rate for people who have successfully completed SSTOP in the last three years is about 10 percent.

With participants serving less time in jail, Winnebago County has also seen a decrease in spending.

Since the program’s launch, Winnebago County Circuit Court Judge Scott Woldt said the $713,000 has been saved based on the number of days offenders would have otherwise spent in jail under a traditional sentence.

Mark Zimmerman is currently going through the program and is expected to complete it in July 2010.

The Oshkosh man said the 90 hours of community service he was ordered to perform and the regular meetings with Olig have helped him address his alcohol issues and stay sober. He said the mix of jail and treatment helped him get his life straightened out.

“It has worked for me,” Zimmerman said. “It has kept me sober and kept me behind the wheel.

source: Oshkosh Northwestern

More Treatment & Detox Articles

The Role of Patient Confidentiality in Drug Treatment Centers

For many patients, the role of patient confidentiality in drug treatment centers goes far beyond the scope of simply keeping their past problems and medical situation at bay. For some, patient confidentiality is more a matter of keeping everything about them a secret to assure that their privacy is respected 100%. In drug treatment centers,….

Middle class wine drinkers ‘harming their unborn children

Middle class women who regularly drink a bottle of wine at home with their partner are at ‘high risk’ of having a child with developmental problems, researchers said. In some cases women may damage their unborn child before they even realise they are pregnant, doctors said at a conference. Drinking during pregnancy can cause foetal….

Getting A Degree In Drinking

For many students at Ohio State, drinking is a part of life. For about 44 percent of those students, it’s a large part. That’s the percentage of students who fit the profile of “high-risk drinkers,” according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. With nearly half of college students characterized as high-risk drinkers,….

Choosing the Right Drug Treatment Center

When you’re addicted to drugs, finding and choosing the right drug treatment center may be not only difficult it could be a challenge that you cannot even begin to fathom. Drug addiction takes everything out of you and is physically, emotionally, spiritually and even financially exhausting. Choosing the right drug treatment center is not only….

Youth Alcohol Binges on the Rise, Health Expert Warns

It’s time for Seventh-day Adventists to do more in getting the word out about the dangers of alcohol use and binge drinking among young people, according to DeWitt Williams, health ministries director for the church in North America. Williams points out that the alcohol industry spends a staggering $11 million a day on advertising in….