INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has released new Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) Guidelines, which cover over 7 million transportation safety-sensitive positions such as: airline pilots, school bus drivers, shipping boat captains, and tractor trailer drivers, just to name a few. The regulations require that any safety-sensitive individual who refuses a drug test, tests positive for drugs, or has a breath alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater must be immediately removed from duty and referred to a SAP.

QUALIFICATIONS
The definition of a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is as follows: a SAP is a licensed physician (Medical Doctor or Doctor of Osteopathy); or a licensed or certified psychologist, social worker, or employee assistance professional; or an addiction counselor certified by one of the following organizations:

1. Louisiana Addictive Disorders Regulatory Authority (ADRA) as either a Licensed Addictions Counselor
     (LAC); Certified Addictions Counselor (CAC); or Registered Addictions Counselor (RAC) IF a member
     of LASACT – LAC’s, CAC's, and RAC's who are NOT members of  LASACT do not qualify;
                                                                                   OR
2. International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium/Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (IC&RC/AODA).
                                                                                   OR
3. National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors Certification Commission (NAADAC)

The change in the requirement is that all SAP’s must be knowledgeable and remain current with the DOT Substance Abuse Professional Guidelines. To this end, the US Department of Transportation required that all existing SAP’s receive and complete the SAP training and testing before December 31, 2003. Following completion of the SAP training the counselor must satisfactorily complete an examination. Then, all SAP’s need a refresher course every 3 years to be able to continue to act as a Substance Abuse Professional. Any SAP who did not receive the training and testing prior to December 31, 2003 cannot do DOT work until this process is complete.

DOT STUDY COURSE
In order to meet the needs of the currently certified population LASACT has acquired a 12 hour home study course that will satisfy the SAP training requirement. This course, "The Substance Abuse Professional Guidelines, as Required by the US DOT", gives knowledge of the SAP’s core competencies and what counselors need to know to be an effective SAP. After completing the course, the student must take and pass an "open book" exam in order to verify completion of the study. The test is submitted to LASACT, which sends it to the course author for grading. Results are returned in approximately 10 working days. LASACT then issues a certificate of successful completion of the Course.

This home study course can also be used to meet 12 hours of CEU requirements for recertification as a LAC, CAC, or RAC by the Addictive Disorders Regulatory Authority whether or not the student takes the SAP exam.

SAP EXAM
The training is only one part of the new requirement; the other is the SAP exam, which must be administered by a nationally recognized professional or training organization whose examination must be validated by a test evaluation organization. The examination must comprehensively cover all the elements of qualification training. LASACT has access to the IC&RC exam that meets these requirements. Please note that two separate tests are involved in this process: (1) an "open book" test on the home study course, taken at home, to verify successful completion of it and (2) the SAP exam, which will be administered by LASACT at times and locations to be announced.

PROCEDURE
LASACT is offering this training and exam to all LAC's, CAC's, RAC’s, and other qualified professionals in Louisiana who are interested in pursuing DOT work. Anyone who wishes to take this course must complete the following steps.

1. Download the home study course application form here, and submit it to LASACT with appropriate
    fee.

2. LASACT will send the course - preferably by e-mail but will also mail it - to the applicant.

3. When applicant completes the course, he/she faxes or mails to LASACT only two documents: the
    answer sheet and evaluation form.

4. LASACT faxes the answer sheet and evaluation form to the author of the test, who scores them and
     returns the Pass/Fail score to LASACT within 10 working days.

5. LASACT notifies applicant of score, sends him/her a certificate for 12 hours of continuing education
    credit, and schedules him/her to take the SAP test. This test is administered quarterly on the regular
    IC&RC testing schedule or can be given in the LASACT office at a mutually convenient time.

    SAP applicants must be LASACT members. A membership application form can also be downloaded
    from this web site.

6. When LASACT receives notification of SAP test score, we notify applicant, provide a certificate showing
    that applicant is qualified to do SAP work, and list applicant on this web page.  Those who do not
    pass the SAP test may schedule to re-take it.

7. SAP must be renewed after three years. Re-certification course is available only through Distance
     Learning Center for Addiction Studies: www.DLCAS.com.

CONCLUSION
The SAP training is offered on an ongoing basis.  According to DOT, no counselor can be considered an SAP until completing the required training and taking the exam. Tests can be taken in the LASACT office at any time. LASACT requires a two week advance notification to give time to order the test from IC&RC. Or the test can be taken at the IC&RC quarterly testing period (March, June, September, and December)

As previously noted, this home study course can also be used to meet 12 hours of CEU requirements for recertification as a LAC, CAC, or RAC by the ADRA, whether or not applicant takes the SAP exam.

The SAP exam covers a lot of DOT regulations. A web page that is helpful to review before taking the SAP exam is as follows: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rulesregs/fmcsr/regs/40.htm.

The SAP test fee is $125 for LASACT members and $175 for non-members.