TNPAP Monitoring Agreement

Nurses Recovery

Published

Specializes in LTC.

I have completed my IOP and have started with counseling. I finished IOP last Friday. How long does it normally take to receive your monitoring agreement? I’ve tried to email and call my case worker for a couple of things and he’s only emailed me back once.
Also, my daughter is graduating from college and we are having a party for her. I would like to have one glass of champagne but I’m afraid to due to drug/alcohol testing.
anyone have any advice for me?

DO NOT do it. Not worth the risk.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Women's Health, LTC.
21 hours ago, sam2brooke said:

Also, my daughter is graduating from college and we are having a party for her. I would like to have one glass of champagne but I’m afraid to due to drug/alcohol testing.
anyone have any advice for me?

Do NOT DRINK. DO NOT BE TEMPTED. You will find yourself right back in IOP and another costly eval.

For the next 3-5 years, you must abstain from all alcohol and drugs. I know it will be difficult (especially if alcohol is not your DOC) but you will bring nothing but more money and time on yourself.

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This happened to me! Do not drink! I was told they had a test that could go back 5 days for alcohol but on memorial day, I had a drink and on Monday I got tested for alcohol and failed. It is not worth it . You have to resign yourself to the fact that you can not EVER drink until this is over. I know it sucks but you can do it.

No, please don’t have the drink! The price you’ll pay if you get caught is just too high.

As far as your other question, I got my monitoring contract about a week and a half after I finished IOP.

Specializes in LTC.

Can you tell me how you received your monitoring agreement? Email or regular mail. I can not get my case worker to return any email or phone call and it’s so frustrating !!

1 hour ago, sam2brooke said:

Can you tell me how you received your monitoring agreement? Email or regular mail. I can not get my case worker to return any email or phone call and it’s so frustrating !!

My case manager emailed me and gave me the agreement to read and sign, the instructions on how to set up my Birchwood account & choose that group, and the instructions on how you download the Spectrum app on your phone and set up your account with Affinity for drug testing. Things will get exponentially easier once this is all in place, but they are understaffed and overworked and right now they’re probably still wading through all the monthly-self reports the current participants turned in last week. So try not to sweat it. Enjoy the last few days of not having to check in every morning and not having to log meeting attendance. ?

Specializes in LTC.

Thank you! You are always so helpful! Just ready to know what I’m facing!

Specializes in LTC.

Can I ask how many times a week are you required to do birch wood group meetings and drug testing?

11 hours ago, DistressedRN said:

My case manager emailed me and gave me the agreement to read and sign, the instructions on how to set up my Birchwood account & choose that group, and the instructions on how you download the Spectrum app on your phone and set up your account with Affinity for drug testing. Things will get exponentially easier once this is all in place, but they are understaffed and overworked and right now they’re probably still wading through all the monthly-self reports the current participants turned in last week. So try not to sweat it. Enjoy the last few days of not having to check in every morning and not having to log meeting attendance. ?

Just wondering if Birchwood fees are the same throughout the country. In NJ our Birchwood fees are $110 monthly or $300 quarterly. Extremely expensive in my opinion. Are the Birchwood fees the same in your state?

On 5/6/2020 at 8:59 AM, sam2brooke said:

Can I ask how many times a week are you required to do birch wood group meetings and drug testing?

Birchwood is once per week and depending on where you live you have the option of an in person meeting or a zoom meeting. Even though there’s a local meeting near me I do Zoom. Much easier & you can reschedule them and make up meetings if you miss one due to vacation, or if you’re sick you can still log on whereas you wouldn’t have to get up & drive to a meeting. Also, you can use Birchwood in place of a 12 step meeting. Like if you are supposed to go to three per week, Birchwood counts as one.

Prepare to be tested pretty much the day or so after you sign your agreement & checkin on the app. Testing frequency varies but a good guideline is to expect two hair or nail tests a year, four blood tests, and 22-24 urines. I get tested an average of two times in a three month period. Some times it’s a week apart, but I’ve gone six weeks without. It’s random, but your case manager ultimately has the final say. Like I got chosen for a nail test once, got to the site & the collector refused to do it because I didn’t have enough length. They called Affinity & Teresa and she changed it to a hair on the spot. I’ve heard after two years you can ask to have frequency reduced and I’m certainly planning on asking, because I’ve never had a missed test or a positive test ever, even my initial one.

On 5/6/2020 at 9:04 AM, Mom2boysNJ said:

Just wondering if Birchwood fees are the same throughout the country. In NJ our Birchwood fees are $110 monthly or $300 quarterly. Extremely expensive in my opinion. Are the Birchwood fees the same in your state?

Same. I pay $300 quarterly. I’m about to use my stimulus check to go ahead and pay the remaining year I have. In the beginning I didn’t want to do that because they’re non refundable, and if something happened & God forbid I had to withdraw, I’d need that money.

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