The new procedures and services included: (1) a new screening procedure which required probation officers to complete a standardized form concerning drug and alcohol problems whenever they prepared a pre-sentence report; (2) routine referral of all who indicated involvement with substance misuse for an assessment interview at the probation office by a specialist project worker from one of the partner agencies; and (3) development, where appropriate, of a plan for treatment or assistance which could be drawn to the attention of the sentencing court, and implemented if a probation order was made (or perhaps voluntarily if the offender remained at liberty on some other basis). This report describes the development of the project design, the early implementation of the design, the results of the screening and assessment process during the first months of the project, the impact of the new procedures on pre-sentence reports writing and the views of sentencers, and presents an overall appraisal of the early impact of the scheme. Tables, appendixes, references