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Program steers drunk drivers straight
A one-of-a-kind program aimed at drunk drivers focuses on rehabilitation instead of jail.
The DRIVR program, created by Kim Spargo, LADC and Jerri Phillips, LMHP, gives those convicted of a first-offense driving under the influence charge, the option of attending a highly-structured two-day retreat, instead of jail time.
The program is voluntary, at the offender's expense of $500, or it can be ordered by the court.
It's been used in Lincoln County for the past six months and is now available in McCook at the Counseling Center, 802 West B.
"The retreat is pretty intensive," Spargo emphasized. "They just can't skate through this." After successful completion of the program, participants continue with probation.
Tougher drunk driving laws have resulted in mandatory jail time for some first-time drunk driving convictions, anywhere from two to seven days, depending on the blood alcohol level content. But jail doesn't really do much but warehouse offenders, Spargo maintained.
Offenders basically eat and sleep, she said, with tax payers picking up the tab for housing, food, laundry, transportation and other costs. For each offender who spends two days jail in Red Willow County, the cost is nearly $100 in addition to transportation costs and any medical needs.
Although offenders are punished, they're not made to look at their behavior, she said.
In contrast, offenders who participate in the DRIVR program -- DUI Recovery Intensive Vicarious Retreat -- are asked to assess their thinking and actions with intensive alcohol and drug education.
Far from a vacation, participants begin classes in the morning and continue throughout the day, with about an hour of down time in the evening, Phillips said. And those who attend must actively participate -- or return to court.
"Non-compliance is not allowed," Phillips said. "This is not a bed-and-breakfast."
And although jail may be easier for the offender, it doesn't always work, she added, citing repeat offenders. The DRIVR program hopes to change that.
One participant who recently completed the program said at first he thought it wouldn't really help.
"I was pessimistic about it," admitted the 29 year-old, who had already spent time in jail in the past and has been here, done that. "I thought I would just go through the motions."
But by the end of the program, his outlook had changed and he felt the retreat had given him something he didn't have before.
"It showed me what I was doing to myself and to others," he said. "I see things differently now. Now I have the tools to do the right thing."
The DRIVR program has had good results so far, according to Spargo and Phillips, who both have years of correctional experience between them: Spargo with the Nebraska Department of Corrections and Phillips with the Lincoln County jail.
"We're liking it and the offenders are liking it," Phillips said, with the program set to expand in the future to include minor in possession offenders.
In addition to the DRIVR program, The Counseling Center also offers the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring device, also known as SCRAM, worn around the ankle. This device measures alcohol consumption by imperceptible skin perspiration, relaying the data to a computer.
It can be used as a condition for probation, Phillips said, or as a bond condition for jail. It can also be voluntarily used as part of a recovery contract and parents of juveniles have requested it as well. Participants are required to pay for this device with some state funding available to those who qualify.
The DRIVR program and SCRAM, along with adult/adolescent dual intensive outpatient programs and alcohol education classes, are also available at the Counseling Center, with offices in North Platte, Lexington and McCook, with another office opening soon in Ogallala.