Frequently Asked Questions
Categories:
Attendance
| Court/Probation | Dismissal/Termination
Enrollment | Financial
| Leave of Absence | Program
Attendance
If my Group is scheduled at 8:00 p.m., what
time do I need to be in my Group?
E04
No later than 8:00 p.m. sharp. Groups and all
scheduled activities begin on time, without exception. You are required to
be in your activity at the start time. This is a State Of California
requirement.
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What do I do if I arrive at the Group or
Education Room door after the start time and the
door is closed? E05
You will not be allowed into your class
or group You will be
charged with an absence and the absence fee will be added to your account.
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What if I know that I will not be able to
attend a scheduled class? E06
Contact our office at least 24 hours in
advance and request a Prearranged Absence. When granted, you will still be
charged the Absence fee but the absence will not be counted toward your
allowable absences.
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I'm in the 3 Month First Offender Program. How
many absences am I allowed?
E08
You may accrue up to 5 absences. Anything over
that and you may be dismissed for not following program guidelines of
excessive absences.
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I'm in the 18 Month Multiple Offender Program.
How many absences am I allowed? E09
You may accrue up to 10 absences. Anything
over that and you may be dismissed for not following program guidelines of
excessive absences.
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As a 3 Month program participant, may I attend
all three self-help meetings in one month?
E11
No. The frequency of meeting attendance is a
requirement of our contract with the San Diego County Department of Alcohol
and Drug Services and cannot be modified.
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May I schedule my Group Sessions and Education
Classes on the same day?
E12
This program is designed to provide an intensive learning experience and the
length of each service would not make same day scheduling an optimal
experience. You may however, schedule a face-to-face on the same day as
group. There are several mid-day and Sunday services which allow for
same-day programming. Please check with our Administrative staff for
current schedules.
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Court/Probation
How soon after being dismissed from the
program do I need to return to Court for a Reinstatement Order?
T02
As soon as possible after receiving your
dismissal paperwork from us.
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How do I get a reinstatement order?
If you are a multiple offender, you must
report back to your Probation Officer. If you are a first offender, you need to
report to the Probation Department's Drug and Alcohol Assessment Unit. If
you have not reported back, a warrant for your arrest will be issued two to
three weeks after your dismissal.
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Dismissal
What generally happens if I'm dismissed from
the program?
When the program dismisses you for cause, a
San Diego County Status Report is completed, reviewed and approved. A copy
is sent to you via First Class Mail, a copy is placed in your case file and
the original is sent to the Probation Department/Assessment Unit. Your name
is removed from all rosters, and you will not be allowed to attend any
activities at this Program. You will need to go to court and request a
reinstatement order from the court. This may cost you an additional fee,
generally $30.00. Depending upon the reason for your termination, this
Program has the right to refuse your reinstatement. If that is the case, you
will be assigned to another program within the County. If you are reinstated
to this Program, you must call and make a reinstatement appointment. You
will be given an appointment date and time. Do not just show up.
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How soon after being dismissed from the
program do I need to return to Court for a Reinstatement Order?
T02
As soon as possible after receiving your
dismissal paper work from us.
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How do I get a reinstatement order?
If you are a multiple offender, you must
report back to your Probation Officer. If you are a first offender, you need to
report to the Probation Department's Drug and Alcohol Assessment Unit. If
you have not reported back a warrant for your arrest will be issued two to
three weeks after your dismissal.
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Enrollment
How many months do I need to attend?
P01
That depends upon which program you were ordered to attend. Generally, first
offenders will attend a three, six or nine month program. Multiple offenders will be
ordered to an 18 month program, which is broken down into 12 months of Group
and Education Classes, and 6 months of Re-entry Sessions.
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As a first offender, why was I ordered to attend
a nine month program and not a three or six month program? P02
If the Court has ordered you to a nine month first offender program, your Blood
Alcohol Content (BAC) was 0.20 or above, or the Court's Assessment Unit
recommended a nine month program to the Court.
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May I enroll in your program before I go to
court?
Provided you can bring evidence of your offense and your Blood Alcohol Content was
.08 or higher, you may under the DMV's Admin. per se law. However, if your BAC
was 0.2 or above, you would be wise to wait until you have gone to court. If you
enroll before going to court, you may have to change your program after the fact
which may result in additional program fees.
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What happens if I do not show up for
enrollment? T03
Not something you want to do, but should
circumstances prevent you from making your appointment, call to reschedule
your appointment. If you fail to make an appointment for enrollment or fail
to attend the enrollment within the prescribed time set by the Court of
Conviction, your name and case will be sent back to the Court as a failure
to enroll. Depending on the jurisdiction, you may have a warrant issued for
your arrest.
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What happens if I don't make an appointment
for enrollment by the time stated by the Court?
E01
You will be required to go back to the court
and request an extension or reinstatement order from the Court Clerk or the
Judge. Be prepared to pay an additional processing fee to the court.
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What special rules are imposed on my
attendance? E03
There are many and they are all spelled out in
the Program's Rules and Regulations. You are given a copy and you are
expected to read and follow them. (See Rules &
Regulations)
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Financial
Can I mail in my monthly payment?
F10
Yes. Please make certain that your name is
printed on your money order or Cashier's Check, along with your Group Number.
We do not accept personal checks. Your
payment cannot be credited if we cannot determine who it's from. Mail your
payment to: SDSU DUIP, 9245 Sky Park Court, Suite 101, San Diego, CA
92123-4311. Your receipt may be retrieved from your case file.
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Can I make a Credit Card Payment over the
telephone? F11
Yes, as long as you provide the type of credit
card, account number and expiration date, and the charge is accepted
by the card center.
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What is Suspend Services?
F01
Suspend Services is a State of California
mandated classification given to all Participants who, after receiving a
notice that they are 30 days behind in their payments and do not correct the
financial problem, are automatically placed into a Suspension status and
given 15 additional days to rectify the payment problem or be dismissed from
the program. During this suspension period, you may not attend any Group,
Education or Re-entry activity. However, you must keep scheduled
Face-to-face interviews. Failure to do so for more than 21-days, will cause
your dismissal from the program.
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What happens if I don't rectify the financial
problem at the end of the 15 day suspension period? F02
You may be dismissed from the Program and
referred back to the Court of Conviction.
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How do I rectify the financial problem?
F02A
Pay the amount owed or schedule a Financial
Assessment Interview by contacting our Accounting Department at extension
116 or 117.
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What is a Financial Assessment Interview
(FAI)?
F04
Once you have signed your payment contract, if
your financial situation changes and you are unable to make your scheduled
payments, you may schedule an FAI. During the FAI, an Accounting
Representative will evaluate your need for further extended payments or a
minimum fee contract. You may attend only one FAI per 30 day period.
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I understand that if I do not attend a
scheduled FAI, I understand that I may be dismissed for failing to attend.
Is this true? F05
Yes. California regulations require you to
keep the appointment. If you do not, you may reschedule an FAI appointment
within 10 days of the missed appointment. However, should you fail to
reschedule, or fail to attend the rescheduled appointment, or bring your
account current, you may be dismissed.
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How do I schedule an FAI?
F06
You may request an appointment by calling our Accounting Department at
extension 116 or 117 .
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How does an individual who is on County
General Relief, pay for the program? F07
People eligible for General Relief may receive
a minimum fee contract. You must provide a copy of your Award Letter/Form to
the program and have a single persons income that is equal to or less than
the amount offered by the county as General Relief. You must prove your
eligibility once each month in order to maintain the minimum fee rate.
Program Fees are reduced to $5.00 per month. All other charges are also
reduced to $5.00 per charge.
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What is my Grace period for making my
monthly payment? F08
There is no grace period for making payments.
Your payment date is based on the day of the month you enrolled. Your
payment is always due on that same day of each month. Since most payments
are made in person, you may not have a class scheduled on your payment due
date. Therefore, we allow a 10 day payment period which allows you to be at
the Program during that period to make your payment. If you do not make your
monthly payment within the 10 day period, a late fee will be added to your
account balance on the 11th day.
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When do I need to pay Absence and Late Fees?
F09
Fees and charges which are added to your
account during the month, are due and payable on the monthly scheduled
payment following the date of the charge. For example: if your account is
current and you are absent from your group during the month, your account
will be charged the current absence fee. When you make you next monthly payment,
you are required to pay the monthly charge and the absence fee. If you
do not, the absence fee(s) may cause your account to become behind in your
payment amount, and could result in your dismissal.
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Should I misplace the original
DL-101, can I obtain a duplicate copy of my Completions Certificate?
F14
Yes. Although we do not provide a
copy of the original DMV DL-101 form, we will issue a replacement. The fee
for a replacement DL-101 is currently $15, however, there are time restrictions
on issuing replacement DL-101 forms. The original serialized form is
voided by the DMV.
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Leave
of Absence
I want to go on vacation.
What's required before I'm granted a Leave of Absence (LOA)? L01
See the Front Office Staff when requesting an
L.O.A. Note, a vacation LOA requires that you must be current on all
fees and services.
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What is the minimum and maximum Leave of
Absence? L02
There is no minimum. Under a contract with the
County Alcohol and Drug Services, the actual length of time depends on the
purpose for the LOA. The maximum is 24 months.
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I'm in the military and I've been ordered to
deploy for six months. What do I do about the program? L03
See the Front Office as soon as possible or call our office and
request an LOA for the time you believe you will be gone.
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I'm on a work assignment (or deployed
military) and I'm not going to return when first believed. What do I do?
L04
Contact this program's LOA Clerk by telephone
(858.467.6810 ext. 131), letter or FAX (858.467.6822) BEFORE your LOA return
date. Request an extension and briefly provide the reason for the delay and
the date you will be returning. Be sure to call and check that your
extension was approved.
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What happens if I don't return from LOA as
scheduled? L05
You are allowed 10 days from the end date of
your LOA to come in person and reschedule your activities. If you do not do
so, you may be dismissed from the program. A telephone call is not
acceptable.
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When I return back to the program from LOA,
what do I do?
You must report to the Front Office in order
to be rescheduled back into group and classes. You may not go directly to
your old group because your space in that Group is no longer available. You
may request your old group and Counselor, but there may not be space in the
requested group or education class.
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Program
How is confidentiality maintained in the
Program? E10
Your confidentiality is very important to this
program. We go to great lengths to maintain your privacy, including closing
doors during counseling and keeping files in a locked room which only
certain staff can access. You are asked at initial enrollment in the program
to provide an emergency contact name and number. In addition you are asked
to complete and sign a Confidentiality Statement which states the names of
persons with whom we can discuss your case. Inquiries about your enrollment,
attendance and other aspects of your case are never given out without your
prior permission.
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If I have a question about my participation in
the Program, who do I contact?
E10
Your Counselor will answer all of your
questions. If your Counselor does not return your call with 24 hours, call
the program and ask to speak with the Duty Manager.
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What is a DL-101
Certificate of Completion?
C01
After successfully completing this Program, you will be issued a DMV Form
DL-101, Notice of Completion Certificate. This is your official document that
states you have completed all requirements of the program. All Notice of
Completion Certificates are processed electronically and are on file at the
DMV by the next day. You will receive a copy by mail.
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Why do I have to pay an additional $3.00 for
the DL-101? F12
This requirement has been eliminated by the DMV.
DMV.
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Why can't I get my Certificate
of Completion the
same day I complete the Program? C02
It takes the program several days to process
your program completion. After a review of your case file is made, the
certificate information is transmitted to Sacramento and normally is
available to local DMV offices the next day. A copy is mailed to our last know address. It is very
important that your address is current at the time of your completion. If
you are not sure we have your current address, check with the front office
before you leave.
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Have a question or suggestion, tell
your counselor. . . thanks.
