Web-based IDA FAQs
The IDA is a differential screening assessment that consists of 45 items across two components designed to estimate the risk for future impaired driving, provide preliminary guidelines for service needs, estimate the level of responsivity to supervision and services, and identify the degree in which traffic safety has been jeopardized among individuals convicted of a DWI offense.
The IDA was developed and is overseen by the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA).
Research has shown that the criminogenic risk factors for DWI offenders look different than other criminal populations. As a result, generic assessment tools typically score these individuals as low risk to re-offend though their behaviors often show otherwise. Through funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), APPA was able to develop this assessment tool to capture the unique criminogenic risk factors of the DWI population.
The IDA has eight domains that assess a handful of major areas of impaired-driving recidivism, prior involvement in the justice system related to impaired driving as well as in general; prior involvement with alcohol and/or other drugs; mental health and mood adjustment problems; and resistance to/non-compliance with justice system interventions.
The IDA gives the evaluator a risk supervision score indicating clients’:
- likelihood to commit a new DWI offense,
- level of involvement with alcohol and other drugs,
- level of defensiveness, acceptance and motivation,
- criminal thinking, and
- mental health distress
The tool also provides preliminary guidelines for supervision and treatment priorities.
Yes. The questions can apply to all DWI cases, including drug impaired driving.
There is no cost to use the IDA tool.Training and materials are provided at no cost to the user.
While it is recommended that the IDA be conducted as early in the court process as possible to help inform sentencing decisions, there is no 'bad' time to use the tool. In most cases, the IDA is used post-sentence.
It typically takes 30-45 minutes to conduct the IDA and complete the scoring. The assessment is available as a free to use web-based application and can also be done in pen and paper format, if desired.
No. The assessment only needs to be conducted one time and is meant to serve as the roadmap for initial supervision.
The IDA can be used more than once on individuals when a new DWI offense has been committed. However, the IDA has not been specifically validated for this purpose.
At this time, the IDA Self-Report (SR) is available in Spanish.
The IDA is available through a web-based application that stores user data on a secure cloud. The application has two levels of users: agency administrators and evaluators. Administrators are able to add and remove evaluators, conduct evaluations, and view agency-wide IDA data through the website.
The IDA has also been integrated into some case management data systems and is available to be licensed for agency use.
Agencies interested in utilizing the web-based IDA or licensing the IDA should Contact APPA for more information.
The IDA is also available in a paper and pencil format.