11837.4
. (a) No program, regardless of how it is funded, may be
licensed unless all of the requirements of this chapter and of the
regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter have been met.
(b) Each licensed program shall include, but not be limited to,
the following:
(1) For the alcohol or drug education and counseling services
programs specified in subdivision (b) of Section 11837, each program
shall provide for close and regular face-to-face interviews. For the
18-month programs specified in subdivision (a) of Section 11837, each
program shall provide for close and regular supervision of the
person, including face-to-face interviews at least once every other
calendar week, regarding the person's progress in the program for the
first 12 months of the program and shall provide only community
reentry supervision during the final six months of the program. In
the last six months of the 18-month program, the provider shall
monitor the participant's community reentry activity with self-help
groups, employment, family, and other areas of self-improvement.
Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the provider's monitoring
services are limited to not more than six hours. For the 30-month
programs specified in subdivision (b) of Section 23548, subdivision
(b) of Section 23552, and subdivision (b) of Section 23568 of the
Vehicle Code, each program shall provide for close and regular
supervision of the person, including regular, scheduled face-to-face
interviews over the course of 30 months regarding the person's
progress in the program and recovery from problem drinking,
alcoholism, chemical dependency, or polydrug abuse, as prescribed by
regulations of the department. The interviews in any of those
programs shall be conducted individually with each person being
supervised and shall occur at times other than when the person is
participating in any group or other activities of the program. No
program activity in which the person is participating shall be
interrupted in order to conduct the individual interviews.
(2) (A) The department shall approve all fee schedules for the
programs and shall require that each program be self-supporting from
the participants' fees and that each program provide for the payment
of the costs of the program by participants at times and in amounts
commensurate with their ability to pay in order to enable these
persons to participate. Each program shall make provisions for
persons who can successfully document current inability to pay the
fees. Only the department may establish the criteria and procedures
for determining a participant's ability to pay. The department shall
ensure that the fees are set at amounts that will enable programs to
provide adequately for the immediate and long-term continuation of
services required pursuant to this chapter. The fees shall be used
only for the purposes set forth in this chapter, except that any
profit or surplus that does not exceed the maximum level established
by the department may be utilized for any purposes allowable under
any other provisions of law. In its regulations, the department shall
define, for the purposes of this paragraph, taking into account
prudent accounting, management, and business practices and
procedures, the terms "profits" and "surplus." The department shall
fairly construe these provisions so as not to jeopardize fiscal
integrity of the programs. The department may not license any program
if the department finds that any element of the administration of
the program does not assure the fiscal integrity of the program.
(B) Each program licensed by the department under this section may
request an increase in the fees. The request for an increase shall
initially be sent to the county alcohol and drug program
administrator. The county alcohol and drug program administrator
shall, within 30 days of receiving the request, forward it to the
department with the administrator's recommendation that the fee
increase be approved or disapproved.
(C) The administrator's recommendation shall, among other things,
take into account the rationale that the program has provided to the
administrator for the increase and whether that increase would exceed
the profit or surplus limit established by the department.
(D) If the county alcohol and drug program administrator fails to
forward the request to the department within the 30 days, the program
may send the request directly to the department. In this instance,
the department may act without the administrator's recommendation.
(E) The department shall, within 30 days of receiving the request
pursuant to subparagraph (B) or (D) approve or disapprove the
request. In making its decision, the department shall consider the
matters described in subparagraph (C).
(3) The licensed programs described in paragraph (1) shall include
a variety of treatment services for problem drinkers, alcoholics,
chemical dependents, and polydrug abusers or shall have the
capability of referring the persons to, and regularly and closely
supervising the persons while in, any appropriate medical, hospital,
or licensed residential treatment services or self-help groups for
their problem drinking, alcoholism, chemical dependency, or polydrug
abuse problem. In addition to the requirements of paragraph (1), the
department shall prescribe in its regulations what other services the
program shall provide, at a minimum, in the treatment of
participants, which services may include lectures, classes, group
discussions, group counseling, or individual counseling in addition
to the interviews required by paragraph (1), or any combination
thereof. However, any group discussion or counseling activity, other
than classes or lectures, shall be regularly scheduled to consist of
not more than 15 persons, except that they may, on an emergency
basis, exceed 15, but not more than 17, persons, at any one meeting.
At no time shall there be more than 17 persons in attendance at any
one meeting. For the 30-month programs specified in subdivision (b)
of Section 23548, subdivision (b) of Section 23552, and subdivision
(b) of Section 23568 of the Vehicle Code, each licensed program shall
include a method by which each participant shall maintain a
compendium of probative evidence, as prescribed in the regulations of
the department, on a trimonthly basis demonstrating a performance of
voluntary community service by the participant, including, but not
limited to, the prevention of drinking and driving, the promotion of
safe driving, and responsible attitudes toward the use of chemicals
of any kind, for not less than 120 hours and not more than 300 hours,
as determined by the court, with one-half of that time to be served
during the initial 18 months of program participation and one-half of
that time to be served in the final 12 months. In determining
whether or not the participant has met the objectives of the program,
the compendium of evidence shall also include, and the court shall
consider, the participant's demonstration of significant improvement
in any of the following areas of personal achievement:
(A) Significant improvement in occupational performance, including
efforts to obtain gainful employment.
(B) Significant improvement in physical and mental health.
(C) Significant improvement in family relations, including
financial obligations.
(D) Significant improvement in financial affairs and economic
stability.
The compendium of evidence shall be maintained by the participant
for review by the program, court, probation officer, or other
appropriate governmental agency. The program officials, unless
prohibited by the referring court, shall make provisions for a
participant to voluntarily enter, using the participant's own
resources, a licensed chemical dependency recovery hospital or
residential treatment program which has a valid license issued by the
State of California to provide alcohol or drug services, and to
receive three weeks of program participation credit for each week of
that treatment, not to exceed 12 weeks of program participation
credit, but only if the treatment is at least two weeks in duration.
The program shall document probative evidence of this hospital or
residential care treatment in the participant's program file.
(4) In order to assure program effectiveness, the department shall
require, whenever appropriate, that the licensed program provides
services to ethnic minorities, women, youth, or any other group that
has particular needs relating to the program.
(5) The goal of each program shall be to assist persons
participating in the program to recognize their chemical dependency
and to assist them in their recovery.
(6) Each program shall establish a method by which the court, the
Department of Motor Vehicles, and the person are notified in a timely
manner of the person's failure to comply with the program's rules
and regulations.
(c) No program may be licensed unless the county complies with the
requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 11812. The provider of a
program that offers an alcohol or drug education and counseling
services program, an 18-month program, or a 30-month program or any
or all of those programs described in this section shall be required
to obtain only one license. The department's regulations shall
specify the requirements for the establishment of each program. The
license issued by the department shall identify the program or
programs licensed to operate.
(d) (1) Departmental approval for the establishment of a 30-month
program by a licensed 18-month program is contingent upon approval by
the county alcohol and drug program administrator, based upon
confirmation that the program applicant is capable of providing the
service and that the fiscal integrity of the program applicant will
not be jeopardized by the operation of the program.
(2) The court shall refer a person to a 30-month treatment program
only if a 30-month program exists or is provided for in the
jurisdiction of the court.
(e) A county or program shall not prescribe additional program
requirements unless the requirements are specifically approved by the
department.
(f) The department may license a program on a provisional basis.