InHisArms

I pm’d you.

The transfer went smoothly. I was not finished in PA/NJ. I had 2 years to go in PA and 3.5 more to go in NJ. CA didn't count any time already served but they didn't make me repeat rehab or aftercare. I just completed my first year in CA. The testing is nuts! I just completed my first year , they tested me 54 times. I had no dilutes, no missed check ins, no positives. What a racket. Anyway you can be done in CA in 3-3.5 years so when it's all said and done I'll be finishing up on time as if I had stayed in NJ.

It's 3-5 and yes, people get out in 3. They don't count time from other programs but they do take into consideration progress made. For instance, I was given permission to work right after my first DEC meeting and they did not make me repeat any treatment. (I did IOP and then aftercare for a year in PA.) depends on where you are in the process when you relocate. It is on a case by case basis.

You should be able to enroll in CA diversion but in order to do so your CA license must be active. You'll need the CA BRN to send quarterly updates to NJ RAMP. I don't know if completion of CA Diversion will satisfy NJ RAMP. Haven't gotten that far yet.

So very sorry Eris. I know how it feels to lose a father that is your world and a big part of your foundation. Sending comfort and prayers your way. When I was grieving someone close to me shared this: "Grief is the price we pay for love. I hurt so deeply because I loved and was loved in return so deeply." It helped me when I was hurting to focus on the love. I didn't realize at the time that this was said to me how much it would later help me through my grief. I truly wish I could hit a "pause life" button for you. {HUGS}

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh, sweet bliss! Congratulations!

You may have to provide hair or blood initially if you claim a sobriety date that would exceed the coverage of a UDS. For instance, hair covers up to 90 days. Blood peth (blood alcohol) i think is up to 80 hours. I'm not sure about nails. When I enrolled my sobriety date was about 2-3 weeks prior and they only made me do UDS. However, a woman that was in my group relapsed and when she came back (many months later) she claimed like 4 months clean and they made her do a hair test to prove it. They will not test you prior to application. You would have to enroll before they will test you. I don't know why they wouldn't answer your questions. They were forthcoming about the program details when I enrolled almost two years ago. I guess it depends who you get on the phone. The packet does explain everything so maybe they hope that most of your questions will be answered in the packet. Hope this helps.

Not a dumb question. They do coordinate somewhat but I did play a large part in facilitating that coordination. I had to pay NJ $100 when I started with them but they haven't billed me since. That was back in 6/2016. 3 months later 9/2016 when I started with PA I had to pay them $300. I moved from PA to CA 9/2017. CA is $25 a month. So now I only pay CA. I did have to bridge twice with the urine testing. Once with NJ to PA and then once when I switched from PA to CA.

I started this journey in RAMP (NJ). They are a straight 5 years. Test at least 2x month. If you go to Quest labs no collection fee for urines. Tests are $40-$65 a pop depending on option. Most frequent was option 5 which was $53. They test for a bunch of different options. Nurse support group 1x week for the whole 5 year contract. That was $60 a month. 12 Step meetings 4x week. The annual fee is $100. My complaint was in NJ but since I was also working in PA at the time I self reported to PNAP because NJ was damn well going to report me anyway. So I did about 3 months with RAMP(NJ) then switched over to PNAP(PA) as my primary since I kept my job in PA. And yes I had to test for both states for about 3-4 weeks to bridge the transfer. PNAP is 3 years (takes about 3.5 by the time your formally done). They test you mostly 2x month rarely 3x but it can happen, you never know. The urines are $29 a pop for option 3 which is the most frequent. Other option was like $49. Collection fee at my place was $25. Aftercare x1 year. Which is okay if you have health insurance, that way you only have to worry about the co-pay. You have to go to 12 step meetings 3x week and caduceus meetings 2x month. The annual fee is $300. I have since transferred to CA (long story). Hope this helps.

No, recovery/sobriety cannot be forced. Not for any considerable length of time. Not if you're truly and alcoholic/addict. Did I screw up? Yup. Did I make stupid a** choices? yup. Will I ever do it again? Nope. I would've shaped up with just the THREAT of having to be in a monitoring program. Have I gained anything from all the IOP, individual & group sessions, nurse support groups, and AA/NA meetings? IOP-Nope; individual & group-nope; nurse support group-yeah, how to better navigate the BON/monitor nazis; AA/NA meetings-generally a headache from the meetings. I met a few good people in the "fellowship"but I'm not drinking the kool-aid. The BON evaluator decided my use didn't warrant admission to inpatient rehab. I never went through withdrawal from anything. When they said no more DOC/ETOH for 5 years it was like telling me I couldn't have chocolate chip cookies for 5 years. It sucks but no big deal. Not with my license on the line. Know what I miss? Not being able to take a freakin Sudafed when I have a cold. What I did learn from all this mess was that I headed down a bad road. I was seriously suffering from secondary trauma syndrome, burnout, compassion fatigue, whatever you want to call it. I had a lot of personal and professional trauma happen all at the same time. I lost my faith. I had no coping skills. Now I have both. My perspective has changed drastically and I've gained a better understanding of myself. So in order to keep my license clean and sparkly I will walk the walk and talk the talk. I will endure the microscope. I will jump through the flaming circus hoops while doing spins and flips and stomp the landing. When I walk out of that last meeting with my completion letter in hand I will be giving them the double salute as I drive away. But I have to admit that when it's all said and done I will better for it.

Hello all! Wanted to post an update for all those that have questions about transferring to another state's monitoring program. This is relevant to NJ, PA & CA. I started this journey in RAMP-NJ & PNAP-PA Summer 2016. (Diverted in NJ and since I was concurrently licensed & working in PA ended up in PNAP as well, yay!) Anyway, right when this all started I was supposed to be moving to CA. I received a lot of helpful information from this forum about transferring and I wanted to give some help & hope to those like me who are interested. A year later I was finally able to move to CA! On the CA BON website under the Intervention FAQ tab it states that unless you are in monitoring for "formal" disciplinary reasons (not voluntarily/confidential i.e. VRP vs DMU) you do NOT have to disclose to the CA BON that you are in monitoring. However, per PA BON monitoring contract guidelines you must enroll into your new state's monitoring program immediately upon arrival and in order to do that you need an active CA RN license and reside in CA. I moved to CA and had to wait 6 weeks before my CA license was granted. In the meantime, I was able to set up a test site in CA for PNAP while waiting for my license to come through in order to remain compliant with PNAP. Upon receipt of my active CA RN license I enrolled into CA's Maximus Diversion Program. After waiting 3 month for a DEC meeting I was formally admitted into the program and given permission to work as a nurse but no patient care yet (I was working as a nurse in PA non-patient care but had patient care and controlled substance administration privileges). CA will send quarterly reports to PA & NJ so that I remain compliant. I was previously told that none of my "time served" from the other monitoring programs will count for CA (boo!). RAMP is a straight 5 years & PNAP is 3.5 by the time you're formally released. The CA Maximus program is 3-5 years so hopefully when all is said and done all three programs (RAMP, PNAP & Maximus) will be done within the original 5 year timeframe and I'll be out of the penalty box with clean and sparkly licenses! I don't screw up a lot but when I do it's big time . I am grateful & have learned many a lesson from this whole stinking experience. I did a ton of research, a lot of planning and asked a great many questions of my monitoring program case managers. None of this did I do on my own. I had a tremendous amount of support from God, hubby, family, friends, sponsor, fellowship, etc. Hope this helps someone and thanks to all those who answered my frantic questions when I was a newbie

Hi, been in PNAP for a little over a year. 2.5 to go. Completely doable for me. Almost finished the 1 year of after care. Testing has been fine. No positives or dilutes. I'm mindful of what I eat but not crazy. I haven't stopped using hand sanitizer or anything. I have an urgent care that I go to that is open till 9pm. Once they get to know you it's fine to come in late for testing. My work place also tests. I got a non clinical RN position with the same employer (couldn't go back to ICU) with the same salary after taking a leave of absence when I self reported. It was about 5 months before I was cleared to go back to work. Was even able to collect short term disability. I realize I've been extremely fortunate with my circumstances and am eternally grateful to God. Only He could've orchestrated these favorable conditions. My case manager has been great. No problems. Questions answered timely via phone and/or email. If you do what you're supposed to do it's fine. I read everything and asked a lot of questions and networked with people in the program so I knew what to expect. It is very intimidating at first but so many others have gone through this successfully and with the help of my higher power, the support of my family, sponsor, friends and AA family I believe I can as well. So it is what you make it. You have to do the work. I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to even be in a program to maintain my license because in the past this wasn't even an option. Best of luck to you!

Thank you for your post. Very sobering. Glad to see you came out the other side stronger and wiser. Thank you for sharing what you learned.

Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the reply. I spoke with someone at the diversion program and explained my situation. They said they did except transfers from other states. I'll apply and take it from there. Thanks again.