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A Substance Use Evaluation can be a positive experience. It provides a brief intervention that educates the individual, family members and others on the nature and extent of the individual’s alcohol and drug problem. Additionally, a Substance Abuse Evaluation provides professional treatment recommendations that can assist an individual in obtaining education and therapy around their alcohol and/or drug issues. To obtain the most benefit from a Substance Use Evaluation, the client must be held accountable by themselves and their support network to follow through on the recommendations.

Although an alcohol and drug evaluation can be obtained any time there is a concern, there are three obvious types of situations that may require a substance abuse evaluation. Those situations are:

Legal Situations where the individual finds themselves involved in a court process such as:

• Driving While Ability Impaired
• DWAI Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
• Custody dispute
• Arrest for other crimes where the individual was intoxicated

Concerned Friends or Family Members who are willing to bring up the issue such as:

• Parents who suspect alcohol and/or drug use in a dependent or non dependent child
• A spouse who requests an evaluation because they observe that the substance use is causing problems for the individual
• Adult children who suspect alcohol and/or drug use in a parent
• If an individual is reluctant to seek treatment but open to completing an evaluation for the purposes of further discussion

Employment situations where the employer has observed any of the following behaviors:

• High absenteeism
• Erratic behavior
• Frequent and unpredictable mood swings
• Coming to work intoxicated
• Drinking on the job
• Positive random drug screens

In general, there are a few different types of Substance Use evaluations. Although all of the types will generally obtain the same basic information, they differ in key areas such as: the inclusion of case management, use of collateral contacts, types of screenings, and written report vs. confirmation of evaluation.

Your counselor will work with you to identify the type of evaluation you need.

The evaluation interview is a face to face process that has the client completing several tasks including:

• Completing the legal paperwork
• Participating in a face to face individual discussion with the addiction counselor
• Filling out nationally recognized and validated screening tools
• Obtaining the answers to any questions
• Completes testing for alcohol and drugs

Basic information gathered during an alcohol and drug evaluation includes:

• Demographics
• Family background
• Social history
• Occupational history
• Legal history
• Medical history
• Mental health history
• Substance use history and patterns
• Client responses and reactions to the interview process
• Observation for mood, behavior and mental status
• Risk assessment

The addiction counselor then evaluates all of the gathered data and does the following:

• Determines an appropriate diagnosis and treatment recommendations
• Compiles a written report
• Discusses the evaluation and the treatment recommendations with the client
• Distributes the written evaluation to the client and the referral source
• As appropriate, makes a phone call to the recommended treatment center once the client is enrolled

Treatment recommendations could include:

• No Services needed at this time
• Monitoring for further assessment
• Outpatient Education Services
• Community Support Groups
• Individual Outpatient Counseling
• Group Therapy
• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
• Partial Hospitalization or Day Treatment
• Detoxification
• Inpatient Treatment

Mandated or court-ordered substance abuse evaluation: $385

• Case management will be billed at $200 per hour in 15 minute increments. 
• Scheduled evaluations typically take 2-4 weeks to complete, depending on the depth required. Please check with your legal representative for clarification.

Qualifies for Good Faith Estimate.