The program integrates the criminal justice and the mental health systems and focuses on the department's perspective on treatment, the authority on which the intervention program is based, the structure of the program, and the types of offenders in the program. Under the program, the court can order a variety of conditions, including substance abuse or mental health treatment, based on the needs of the offender. The department's case workers view the program as having six primary benefits. It breaks the cycle whereby drinking increases the feelings that lead to drinking; it breaks through the individual's system of denial as participants are forced to look at the seriousness of their behavior; it increases the consequences of drinking and driving behavior before persons do more harm to themselves and others; caseworkers can monitor the behavior of defendants; the outpatient treatment helps clients tolerate the pain they have been avoiding through denial and rationalization; and the court order can be the external structure or enforcer of the treatment process. Issues in the assessment of the effectiveness of the program are discussed. 2 tables, 11 notes, and 24 references