WIP is a component of an interdisciplinary effort that links the area's courts and substance abuse treatment agencies. As an intervention model, WIP addresses the initial clinical needs of substance abusers who are as yet not receiving treatment services. WIP is an intensive, 3-day residential program to which persons involved in a drug or alcohol offense may be remanded by a court or other supervising agency. This 3-day education/intervention program bases its behavioral change methods on marathon substance abuse counseling sessions, using a cognitive-behavioral-oriented approach combined with presentations structured around a modified health belief model. Using these methods, WIP participants, through small group and individual counseling sessions, explore the consequences and risks attendant to their own relationship with psychoactive drugs while providing the professional staff the data necessary to evaluate their status and formulate meaningful, valid assessments for the referring courts and/or agencies. Beginning in March of 1983, subjects were followed until June of 1985, producing a tracking period as long as two years for the cohort whose entry offense occurred in March 1983, and as short as 1 year for the last cohort that entered the study in July of 1984. Like other studies of recidivism, this investigation found that repeat offenders consistently did worse than first-time offenders. With repeaters, however, the WIP did better than the comparison groups of jail and suspended sentence/fine offenders. The WIP group had a lower recidivism rate than the other two groups and a longer average survival time in courts that mandated offenders to comply with WIP recommendations. The study concludes that a modest front-end investment can pay a significant dividend in terms of improved outcome, treatment retention, and better morale through increased staff and client satisfaction. 1 figure and 49 references