Tarrant County's Felony Alcohol Intervention Project (FAIP)

Tarrant County implemented the Felony Alcohol Intervention Project, or FAIP, in 2007. The mission statement sums it up pretty well: To capitalize on the trauma and consequences of an arrest by early intervention in the alcoholic's course of conduct.

From the outset, I will admit that I don't know that much about this program. My practice generally doesn't include too many felony DWI cases, for whatever reason. However, felony level DWIs (which require at least two prior DWI convictions for the enhancement under Section 49.09, or a prior conviction for Intoxication Manslaughter), are fundamentally different that first time, or even second time DWIs. The idea with felony DWIs is that the person has a drinking problem as opposed to simply having made a bad choice.

With this concept in mind, I suppose FAIP was born. A felony DWI is a third degree felony meaning the person could be sentenced to anywhere between two and 10 years in prison or receive up to 10 years probation. In Tarrant County, the District Attorney's office maintains a policy of the maximum term of probation as its only offer of probation. (They also generally offer the maximum two years probation for a misdemeanor DWI).

A person in the FAIP program receives only four years probation. However, the program is much more intensive than standard probation, and the selection criteria is more exclusive.
The person must be 17 or older;
be a resident of Tarrant County;
charged with a felony DWI;
have no prior 3g convictions or pending 3g cases;
be a legal U.S. resident;
not currently on parole or probation;
have no pending possession of heroin or unlawful possession of a firearm cases;
have no prior involuntary or intoxication manslaughter convictions;
and be approved by the FAIP team.

The program consists of five phases; Stabilize and Engage, Treatment, Consistent Maintenance, Continuing Care, and Aftercare. The first four phases must last a minimum of 18 months. These four phases include meetings with supervision personnel, multiple court appearances, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, submitting BAC and UA specimens. The person must be subject to at least 90 days on the SCRAM monitor, a driver's license suspension of up to two years, up to 160 hours of community service, and curfews. Additionally, the person must be confined for 10 days in the Tarrant County jail.

Following successful completion of the first four phases, the person is eligible for entrance into phase five, Aftercare. For admission to Aftercare, the person must also have been sober for at least one year, submit a stability and sobriety plan and be approved by the FAIP team.

Clearly the goal of FAIP is lifestyle change rather than diversion such as that seen in Drug Court programs. I suppose it can be argued that if you get to the point of being charged with a third time DWI you have a drinking problem. But at the same time, the program presupposes someone in that situation wants to change.

Like I said, I have never had a client in this program because I don't routinely represent felony DWI cases. It does sound like a very comprehensive program for the person that wants to get help for his or her drinking problem.

If anyone has had a client in this program, I would love to hear about it.

Comments

[Doug Weathers]

Everytime I tried to get someone in the program, I was told that it was full and not taking anymore applicants. I am not sure the program still exists because of funding problems. Judge Wilson was the force behind the program and I heard good things about the results.

[Glen R. Graham]

Tulsa County enacted multiple "alternative court programs" due to prison over-crowding, and budgetary short-falls. Oklahoma was number one in the nation in the rate of incarceration for women in 2007 according to the bureau of justice crime statistics. We have a DUI court program for people who have multiple DUI's or non-violent priors and who qualify after an assessment. We have a drug court program, community sentencing program (accelerated accountability), and mental health court (one of the first in the nation). These multiple alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders became necessary due to funding problems and as the court system continues to evolve. There has been some criticism (some fair and some not) of some aspects of these various programs on the internet. Community sentencing is just like it sounds whereby people are allowed to use the resources in the community for treatment and have a "community officer" rather that a traditional probation officer. The idea is to try to find an alternative to filling up the state's jails with non-violent offenders. It is hoped that this will be more effective, avoid some prison costs, and control-reduce some tax-budgetary issues. It also makes sense for non-violent offenders to be given a chance for help within the community as an alternative to incarceration from a basic humanitarian aspect.
Yours in the Defense of Fellow Human Beings,
Glen R. Graham, Tulsa Criminal Defense Lawyer

[Joel Rosenberg]

As a DUI consumer -- I don't drink to excess and drive, but I do share the roads with people who do, as does my family -- I'd love to know how well this is working in terms of recidivism. Any idea?

That said, from the description, it certainly doesn't sound like early intervention, from this remove, given that it appears only to be open to people who have had a third DUI conviction.

[Matlock]

I honestly don't know if the program is still available, or closed, or what. My understanding is that it is still open for business, but it might be maxed out.

GG,
I don't think the point of the program is to keep people out of jails, but rather to provide people an opportunity to solve a problem they have. I know the judges will be more than happy to revoke someone to TDC for violating this just like a standard probation term.

JR,
I don't have any stats on the program as far as "success." What I do know is that the program is relatively small, so I can't imagine it is really making an impact on felony DWI cases. But then again, I don't know that that is necessarily a goal.

[Joel Rosenberg]

I think it would be a miracle on the order of the parting of the Red Sea if it had any local effect on the number of DUI cases, felony and/or misdemeanor. But I think it would be both interesting and useful if, say, there were an unusually low five-year recidivism rate among participants. My own theory -- can't prove it, but I think it's likely -- that somebody who has managed to get that many DUI convictions is very likely to have a very serious, and difficult to handle, drinking problem.

That said, such things do happen. One of my fairly recent carry class students, up here, had (in his or her words) "more DUIs than I can count". He or she was approved for a carry permit on the grounds that somebody who has managed to go more than a quarter century, after that, without a single offense accusation (or, for that matter, a single drink) was a pretty good risk, all things considered.

[Drug intervention]

Drug intervention or an alcohol intervention can’t be a generic thing, or an assembly-line operation Intervention services can only be successful if they are administered with expertise, and with empathy. Alcohol Intervention technique focuses on helping those who don’t admit their need for help.

http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/terms/Drug-Intervention-and-Treatments/index.html

[alcohol rehab centers]

Alcohol rehabilitation is not just as simple as it is. It is a complex procedures that needed professionals to do it. Sometimes doing it unprofessionally would just lead to a more serious problem. Relapse may occur if it is handled unprofessionally.

[Alissa Kyllander]

my brother was killed by a drunk driver driving with a revoked drivers license.....SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DON

[adolescent addiction treatment]

Alcohol intervention is a process that helps an alcoholic recognize the extent of their problem. Alcoholics usually do not know they are out of control. They look at their alcohol-using peers and their own use appears normal in comparison. They need objective feedback on their behavior.

-mj-