Offender Solutions® Inc. staff began researching and working with underage drinking clients in 1975. At the onset as juvenile probation officers it became clear that imposing fines and license or school suspensions did little to have a meaningful impact on young people, their behavior or their attitudes toward underage alcohol use. Now, Offender Solutions® is a nationwide leader in providing underage alcohol education classes. Offender Solutions® was developed to be the highest quality online distance learning underage drinking class available. We use an evidence based, cognitive restructuring and psycho-educational model and focus on the student’s “attitudes, values and beliefs”.

Curriculum

1. Introduction – Outlines class use and expectations.

2. History of Alcohol – Reviews historical values about alcohol use.

3. What’s the Big Deal – Explains problems associated with alcohol use.

4. Levels of Use – Shows the “levels of use” and conducts a level of use screening.

5. Who is At Risk – Summarizes risk issues and student gets a risk screening.

6. Our Values – Defines “values” and how they impact the path of our life.

7. The Choices We Make – Outlines a template for making life choices.

8. Making Up Your Own Mind – Poses questions about our attitudes, values and beliefs.

9. Summary and Final Exam – Puts the pieces of the class into context.

The primary goal of the Offender Solutions® Rethink-a-Drink™ underage drinking alcohol awareness class is for the student to seriously explore his/her own attitudes, values and beliefs about underage drinking . Rethink-a-Drink is a distance learning program that has five key objectives:

OBJECTIVE 1: Empowerment: To assist the client in developing a sense of personal responsibility for each decision made. Prior to completing our alcohol awareness course each student will be aware that his/her “level of use” and “level of risk” is mostly impacted by themselves and their attitudes, values and beliefs about alcohol use.

OBJECTIVE 2: Education: To inform each student of the long and short term problems associated with alcohol use.

OBJECTIVE 3: Skills: To facilitate the development of an alcohol refusal strategy and expose the student to a variety of “in the moment” techniques. The need to identify specific strategies and techniques and practice is encouraged and emphasized.

OBJECTIVE 4: Victim Awareness: Special attention is paid to identify the impact that alcohol use has on strangers, friends, family, fellow students and work colleagues. Prior to the completion of the Rethink-a-Drink underage drinking class, the student will be aware that any one incident or abuse of alcohol increases the likelihood that there is a victim(s).

OBJECTIVE 5: Values Development: The student is exposed to the notion of “values”. This objective entails having the student look into him/herself, introspectively, and weigh their values regarding underage drinking.

This is a 4 hour curriculum and contains hundreds pages of information. The Rethink-a-Drink™ class is delivered in the form of an online classroom, where videos, content, quizzes and multi-media presentations are utilized. This course is considered interactive and comprehensive.

Offender Solutions® was founded through the combined 43 years of experience of a master’s level Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor (CADC), parole officer, a juvenile probation officer, two college instructors and a justice system policy analyst. Each of these roles contributed greatly to the style, delivery and content of the work we do.

We use best practices and evidence based principles. Offender Solutions® addresses victim awareness issues, accountability and personal responsibility. Our approach is the most effective intervention - cognitive restructuring.

This distance learning under age drinking class is appropriate as an alcohol education program or for minors (people under 21) who have had a MIP or MIC violation. Please be advised, this class (Rethink-a-Drink™) is an alcohol education program and should be used as an alcohol education course only. The Rethink-a-Drink™ class is NOT a substitute for treatment, therapy or counseling and in no way should be used in place of medical, psychological or any other form of therapeutic intervention. The class participants have a responsibility to determine and confirm that the Rethink-a-Drink™ class will satisfy your school, court or justice system requirement.