VASAP

VASAP is the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program.  The program's main goal is to improve highway safety.  They do this through objectives that include public awareness, acquiring of and training in state-of-the-art equipment for drug/alcohol detection, helping with the proceedures involved for DUI offenders on probation, and providing case management to ensure that each offender's probation requirements are fulfilled.  This is a non-profit group prides itself on being totally funded by DUI offenders sent to the program and not tax payers dollars.  However, that's not entirely true.  They do also receive federal highway safety grants and other government-based grants to subsidize their activities.  But, let's take it at face value that the majority of their funding comes from people like me that are convicted of a DUI and sent to the program. 

So far, my experience with VASAP has not been entirely unpleasant (the employees seem very nice), but it has raised some serious questions and doubts in me about the system and its effectiveness in acheiving its goal.  I'm confused about the so-called 'standards' that VASAP is supposed to provide and enforce, as well.  One of the things I'm learning through my experience is that 'standard' is a loose term and I find it frustrating that they, like the court system, uses standards when they want to or when it suits them and abandons them just as often for the same reasons.  I understand there are high degrees of variation in any court suit or situation, but this just seems kind of cock-eyed and highly subjective.

For example, I've heard from many first-time DUI offenders are not sent to VASAP.  This violates what's on their website that reads DUI offenders are sent to VASAP as part of their probation requirements.  It seems that this is more likely based on which district in which your offense was committed, which judge you got for your trial and what mood he/she was in that day.   On a side note, this seems to be a factor used in determining your fines, as well.  I'm a first time DUI offender with no criminal record, a good citizen, and a professional with a degree beyond college; probably not your average person that might appear in that courtroom.  But, I happened to get a very angry judge who was in a particularly bad mood the day of my trial.  Even the prosecutor and arresting officer told my lawyer that this particular judge used to be more open-minded, kind, and fair, but over the years he'd become more and more bitter.  We tried to ask to postpone the trial since it was going to be lengthy and his docket was overwhelmed that day, but the judge denied it.  He told us to take the time we needed.  However, as the trial continued, we found ourselves speeding things up because the judge would constantly interrupt us (my lawyer, my expert witness, myself, the prosecution, and the arresting officer) and started reading other paperwork.  He wouldn't look at me or anyone else when we were speaking, and kept rolling his eyes to the ceiling as if he were bored.  He would make comments about speeding things up and then he would tell my lawyer to slow down because this was important, but then interrupt again and tell him to hurry up.  He was very rude to everyone involved.  It was awful and we were all flabbergasted.  My question in the end was, did I get a fair trial?  Obviously this man was bitter about his job and maybe he had just had a fight with his wife the night before and it all seemed to be trickling into my trial.  I paid a lot of money to try to straighten this out and in the end, did I get robbed?  Had I committed this offense in the next district over, would my lawyer have had the time he needed to prove my case?  And if I'd still be conviced, would I have been sent to VASAP?  Who knows, but there seems to be a distinct possibility that these outcomes might have been different.

After the trial, I reported to the VASAP office in the courtroom.  I filled out some paperwork and I was told I had to report to my local VASAP for an intake appointment within 7 days.  According to the VASAP website, you're supposed to be given 15 days.  I guess this is another 'standard' that can be changed depending on where your trial is held.  The VASAP representative told me that I had to wait about 3 days for my paperwork to get to the other office, so that meant I really had about 4 days to schedule my intake appointment.  And keep in mind we're not talking business days- they were counting the weekends, too, when VASAP isn't even open.  Wow.  It's a good thing I was able to take off time from work in such short notice (keep in mind that VASAP is only open normal business hours and the first appointment would take at least an hour).  I had to surrender my license and I was given the green sheet of paper that allows me to drive until I can get a restricted license or actual plastic license.  This green sheet of paper contains all the information about when I'm allowed to drive and where.  The woman told me that she put 'AA meetings' on the paper because VASAP may require me to attend 3-4 AA meetings as part of the program.  This information was not true as I would come to find out.  In fact, I would be required to attend somewhere between 10 and 20 AA meetings depending on what level of treatment to which I'd be assigned. The representative told me the VASAP program fees were $375.  Ouch.  I asked about payment arrangements and she said they would allow for that. 

When we were done, the rep told me that I would have to wait for my green sheet to be signed by the judge, but it would probably only be another half hour and then I would be free to leave.  Wrong.  This tells you what a jerk my judge was:  he held everyone there that needed something signed by him until after all the other trials were completed.  We wound up sitting in the courtroom for an additional 3 hours as a result.  From the grumbling I was hearing and based on what the rep told me, this was not normal. 

I called the local VASAP office a few days later as instructed.  They told me that I had to come in to schedule my intake apppointment- it cannot be done over the phone.  So, let me get this straight...I have to make an appointment to come in to make an appointment for my intake appointment?  Yeah, this sounds like government to me. 

I went in a few days later and met with one of the local VASAP represenatives.  She had me fill out more paperwork and reviewed my green sheet.  She asked me 'are you a member of AA?' when she came to the part where the original rep had given me permission on the sheet to attend AA.  I quickly explained she had done that in case VASAP ordered me to attend meetings and she seemed to shrug.  I kind of wondered about that.  I was told that if permission to attend something is not on the green sheet, you can't drive there.  So, did this mean, by this rep's reaction, that the AA meetings were not part of the program?  I would later learn that no, it did not, but her reaction was still odd. 

One of the things I had to write down was my BAC the night of the arrest.  Well, as you may know from my other posts, my BAC had been incorrect due to a medical issue.  In fact, my certificate was dismissed during the trial because of this issue.  So, I talked with the rep about this and told her about my acid reflux and how it distored my BAC and her exact words were 'that'll do it!', agreeing with me that it was incorrect.  She did make a note of it and told me to talk with my case manager once I was assigned to one.  We discussed payment options.  I plunked down $150 and made arrangements to pay in $75 increments over the next several months.  She scheduled my intake appointment for two weeks later.  I was a little put-off by this.  First of all, I was confused by the paperwork that said I had to have an intake appointment within 7 days of my trial.  The rep told me they had meant I had to come in for my initial appointment within 7 days and I had fulfilled that. Well, why on earth doesn't it say just that on the paperwork?  Why make it more confusing than necessary?  Seond, this meant that the start of my classes/treatment was delayed yet another 2 weeks, extending my time with VASAP.  I just wanted to get started, get through this, and get it over with, but it seemed I was out of luck.

So, two weeks later I went back to that office for my intake appointment.  There were about 5 others in the room with me.  A woman came in and said she was our case manager.  She went through the different levels of treatment and the costs associated with each.  If you got the lowest level of treatment, you would attend 10 VASAP alcohol safety and education classes, had to attend 10 AA meetings, and there was no additional cost outside of the $375 VASAP fee.  The second level was more intensive education and you'd be assigned to the ADAPT program (Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Team...the acronym doesn't make sense, I know) for 20 classes and 20 AA meetings and there was additional costs involved.  Beyond that, you could be assigned to facilities for intensive treatment and rehab with additional costs, as well.  We watched a video after that (I'm beginning to learn that all these programs rely heavily on videos), which talked about the offender's experience in Virginia and what to expect.  Throughout this, I tried to keep an open mind.  I knew I had to go through all this, but I was trying to find something positive.  I assumed I'd be sent to the safety and education classes and I kept trying to say to myself 'well, maybe I'll learn something new'.  However, now I'm highly doubtful about this.

We were told that we had to wait around and in the order that we checked in, we would be seen by our case manager for an interview.  She had us fill out yet more paperwork.  This time the paperwork included questions about our history of usage of drugs and alcohol.  Included in this was a page with a table with about 25 yes/no questions.  I answered everything 100% honestly...or so I thought.  Some of the questions were a little confusing, so I hesitated on a few questions, but did the best I could.   I left the question blank where it asked what your BAC was at the time of arrest.  I made a note in the comments section about my BAC certificate and waited to be called. 

I thought this was going to be a real interview.  It was not.  Instead, she simply read through my paperwork.  I almost started laughing when I saw my case manager get to the yes/no table and she laid a copy of it over my answers.  Her copy had the flagged answers cut out from the paper.  Sooooo scientific.   Wow.  But it did worry me because standardized tests didn't really seem appropriate here.  There is a major human factor in this situation that was being ignored.  And those questions, as I said, could be misleading, so I wasn't sure I answered them all correctly.  It wasn't until she was done reading and finished writing up my assignment and had me sign her paperwork that she asked if I had any quesitons. I felt rushed.  So, all I could get out was my concern about the BAC certificate.  She had seen I had left the BAC question blank, but filled it in based on what I'd had written down at my first appointment.  I explained the situation to her.  I was really worried because we'd been told that over the course of treatment/classes we'd be expected to take breathalyzer tests.  If my BAC was even a 0.0001%, we could be sent back to court.  I told her that I can't control that with my medical issue.  I had no intentions of drinking during the program, but that it may come up positive if I happen to have an attack the day of testing.  She made a note of it and told me to talk with the counselor when I reported for treatment/classes.  She told me what time/date to report for my first class and where to go. And that was it.  She had several more people to see and ushered me out of her office.

Silly me, I just assumed that if there were any red flags that might send me to anything but the lowest level of treatment/classes, she would have explained that to me.  I went away on business for a week and didn't read through everything until I got back.  What I read just freaked me out.  I had unknowingly been assigned to the second level of treatment/classes- to ADAPT.  These classes addressed alcohol and drug addiction and were designed to prevent relapses.  Huh??  I'm by no means an alcoholic and I found it personally offensive that this is where my case manager was sending me.  I was so angry and hurt.  I grew up with an alcoholic mother and I knew damned well what all this meant and I did not belong there.  I started wondering why she did this- was it my BAC certificate?  The case manager hadn't said anything about if that comes into play in their decision-making or not.  Was it something in the questions?  After all, as I'd said, some of them may have been misleading.  For example, one of the questions is 'Have you ever attended an AA or NA meeting?'  I had been to several with my mother and one with a college friend when he was convicted of being drunk in public.  I answered 'yes' because at face value, that's the honest answer, but I had put a note beside the question remarking why I had attended.  But was this ignored by her little cut-out sheet?  And another question had been 'Have you ever experience any of the following after drinking or doing drugs?'  The choices were sickness, the shakes, paranoia, black-outs, etc.  I'd been to college and had my fair share of hang-overs, so I circled 'sickness'.  Had I mistaken the meaning of that answer? 

Besides the personal aspect, this assignment meant 20 classes at $20 a pop plus additional drug testing and counseling ($35 each) and 20 AA meetings.  I went from believing I only had 2 months of classes to 5+ months.  And I had to sit on this for two days because it was a weekend and there was no one to call until Monday.  And that Sunday I was to meet with the ADAPT director for my initial session. 

That Sunday I met with the director of the ADAPT program, a very kind woman, and talked with her about the situation.  I asked her point-blank, why was I in her office?  She read through my file and read me my case manager's comments.  She said it looked like the decision was soley based on my BAC certificate.  I was relieved- the personal affront was removed, but it did not solve the problem.  She told me to call my case manager the next day and see what I could do.  She also told me that my case manager is 'old school' and not very open-minded.  Had I been assigned to the other case manager at that office, I probably wouldn't have been sent to ADAPT.  So, again, I'm left to subjective decision-making and hoped that the case manager wouldn't be in a bad mood the next day. 

I was scheduled to attend Thursday classes with a counselor, which start at 6:30pm and ends at 8pm.  I paid $75 to the director.  This included the first two classes and a $35 intake fee.  The director explained I would have two additional counseling sessions ($35 each) and at least four urine screenings (also $35 each).  The average total cost- in ADDITION to the VASAP fee of $375- is $645.  Wow.  I already had my doubts, but this was really starting to look like a scam and a ridiculous burden on my schedule.

Monday I called the case manager and asked her how she made the decision to put me in this level of treatment/classes.  She read through my file and said it was soley based on my BAC certificate.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  I actually felt better that nothing I'd written had implied I needed real treatment.  But there was still the issue of the certificate.  I asked about that; after all, if the judge threw it out, how is it that VASAP was still able to use it?  She explained that all the paperwork from the court and arrest are sent to VASAP and used to determine treatment.  They only get a certificate or they don't (because of a refusal) and there was nothing in between.  She said the court would have to have removed the certificate from my paperwork and it had only been removed from my sentencing.  But, my point is: if it's proven to be invalid, then it's invalid.  That's just not right.  I started thinking about all I'd read online about other factors that come into play that can distort the breathalyzer results.  VASAP must know about these issues since one of their objectives is to obtain state-of-the-art equipment for detection and to train law enforcement.  They're supposed to be experts in the equipment.  Apparently, though, it doesn't matter.  My case manager said I should call my lawyer.  Later, he told me that he'd only been successful in changing this one time- apparently these decisions are entirely at the discretion of the VASAP case manager and my lawyer was unsuccessful in getting my case manager to change her mind.  I thought back to what the counselor told me about my case manager and realized that I was again, like at my trial and arrest, dealing with a gray issue in a black and white environment. 

Throughout this time period, I was growing more angry about the amount of time I was spending just trying to get registered for all of this.  It's now almost two months after my trial and I still hadn't started my classes.  This delay means that I'll be in classes at least until August/September and that's assuming I do not have to miss any classes.  I also learned at my ADAPT initiation that the AA meetings are supposed to be one per week- consecutive weeks- which mean I would be spending 1.5 hours at ADAPT classes plus an hour or so at AA EVERY FREAKING WEEK.  That's a lot in my book.  I would also have to attend a MADD meeting (free, thankfully) after I completed my ADAPT classes.  And they lock you in that meeting.  Yes, they actually lock the doors.  That runs about 1.5-2 hours.  On top of this, there is the additional individual counseling sessions that are at least an hour and the urine screening which can take another hour.  Once you've completed your AA and ADAPT requirements, there would be more random alcohol/drug screenings and meetings with my ASAP counselor.  I began wondering how on earth I was going to fit all this in, plus the extra financial burden is hard to swallow. 

I don't want to sound like I'm a crybaby because after all, I was convicted.  The circumstances of that night are highly questionable, though, and I feel that I've been unfairly convicted.  Had I not been suffering from acid reflux that night, my on-scene breathalyzer results would have been well below the legal limit and I feel confident I would not have been arrested.  The judge relied soley on the testimony of the arresting officer and his field tests were questionable.  I feel that because we were rushed, the judge was in a foul mood, and we had little time to delve further into the situation, this never really came out.  But I'm trying to just accept that 'hey, what happened, happened'.  I just feel that this is now going beyond ridiculous.  My time committment and additional financial burden have been increased because of something I cannot control and there is no appeal process for this part of the probation.  There seems to be checks and balances here.  I just can't get over the additional time and money obligations that I have because I have acid reflux.  It just seems ridiculous.