In an effort to decrease the frequency of alcohol-impaired driving, San Juan County, New Mexico recently established the San Juan County DWI (SJC-DWI) Facility for treatment of first time DWI offenders. San Juan County exhibits a severe drinking and driving problem: it has the second highest rate of alcohol-related vehicle fatalities in the United States, and ranks first in counties in New Mexico for frequency of repeat and aggravated DWI offenses. The city of Farmington, the program's location, is a border community to the Navajo Nation, and the SJC-DWI's client population is predominantly (approximately 70%) Navajo. The SJC-DWI program blends a 28 day period of incarceration with several intervention components that are tailored to the program's predominantly Native American population. The SJC-DWI is distinctive in that it employs intervention components that are culturally sensitive, is set in a rural setting, serves a predominantly Native American population, and is focused solely on first-time DWI offenders. As such, the program addresses several gaps in the DWI prevention literature. While some preliminary data suggests that there has been a large reduction in DWI re-arrest for SJC-DWI clients, not controlled and comprehensive evaluations of the program have been accomplished to date.
