Prepare for the next decision.

Confirm the interview date, the assigned probation officer, what has been requested and how counsel wants materials delivered. Ask which topics require particular care, whether counsel will attend and which records are already available. Avoid guessing about deadlines.

Your task: Create a short checklist with the item, source, person responsible, due date and delivery status. Keep completed work separate from plans.

Prepare a factual chronology of family, education, work, health, treatment and community involvement. Identify dates you can verify and mark genuine uncertainty. Collect relevant records through an appropriate process: educational records, employment confirmation, treatment-provider information and documented service.

Your task: For each important statement, write down the supporting record or person who can confirm it. Do not upload private records into this resource page or the signup form.

Use the 25 questions below as preparation prompts, not rehearsed answers. Discuss the offense with counsel. Describe your own conduct, your understanding of harm and what you have actually changed. Your account should remain in your voice.

Your task: Prepare brief factual notes, then identify gaps. Separate an explanation of circumstances from an excuse, and avoid claims you cannot support.

A vague label such as “social drinking” may leave meaningful parts of a history unexplained. Work with counsel and a qualified clinician to describe the actual pattern: substances, periods of use, frequency, amounts, spending where known, consequences and treatment. Do not exaggerate to seek a program benefit. Use the RDAP preparation course below for a fuller documentation framework.

Your task: Make a truthful chronology for review, including periods of abstinence, attempts to stop, treatment and support meetings actually attended.

When the report is available through the appropriate process, review personal information and factual statements carefully with counsel. Identify specific inaccuracies, the correct information and supporting records. Counsel determines the procedure and timing for corrections or objections.

Your task: Use three columns: report passage, factual concern, supporting source. Keep the report private and follow restrictions on sharing it.

Admission requires a verifiable substance use disorder, an agreement to accept program responsibility and the ability to complete the required components. BOP’s Drug Abuse Program Coordinator makes the placement decision. A PSR statement, diagnosis, meeting attendance or court recommendation does not by itself guarantee admission.

Early release is a separate determination under 28 CFR 550.55. Some people may receive treatment without qualifying for the discretionary sentence-reduction benefit. Ask for an individual eligibility review rather than subtracting a year from a calculator result.

The interview is an important opportunity to provide an accurate account. Review the history with counsel and a qualified clinician. Avoid broad labels when specific facts are available. Describe what actually happened, including periods when there was no use.

• Substance and timeline: What alcohol, drugs or misused medications were involved? When did use begin, change or stop?
• Pattern: How often, in what amounts and in what circumstances? Explain differences between typical use and heavier episodes.
• Spending: What did you actually spend, if known? Label estimates and uncertainty. Spending alone is not a diagnosis.
• Effects: What effects occurred at work, at home, in health or in relationships? What attempts to reduce or stop use occurred?
• Treatment: What assessments, counseling, treatment or peer-support participation actually occurred? Identify providers, dates and available records.

Your task: Prepare a dated chronology and a list of records for appropriate review. Do not manufacture symptoms, change facts to fit a benefit or present another person’s experience as yours.

Obtain relevant provider records through proper channels. Describe AA or NA participation accurately: dates, frequency and what you actually did. Peer-support attendance is not the same as a clinical diagnosis or BOP admission decision.

If gambling problems or Gamblers Anonymous are part of your actual history, discuss them honestly with counsel and the treating professional. Gambling problems alone do not establish a substance use disorder for RDAP admission. Seek appropriate care because it is needed, not to produce an eligibility narrative.

Your task: List each real provider or support activity, the relevant date range and the records available. Resolve discrepancies instead of concealing them.

In custody, you may request RDAP through a staff member, ordinarily the unit team or Drug Abuse Program Coordinator. Ask how to submit relevant records, how admission is evaluated and how available time affects completing all components. Keep copies of requests where permitted and follow the institution’s process.

Your task: Prepare questions about treatment needs, evaluation, program timing, follow-up and community treatment. Do not treat a preferred institution or treatment start date as guaranteed.

RDAP uses a treatment community and cognitive-behavioral methods. The work concerns patterns of thinking, decisions, responsibility and behavior, not simply attendance. Satisfactory participation is required; disruptive conduct or insufficient progress can lead to removal.

Your task: Follow your treatment team’s assignments, seek clarification, practice the skills and respond constructively to feedback. This preparation course cannot replace BOP instruction.

Finishing the residential unit is not the entire program. Required follow-up services and Community Treatment Services matter to successful completion. Coordinate with BOP staff about transitions, appointments, transportation, housing and continuing care. Do not assume release from the unit completes every requirement.

Your task: Maintain a practical continuity-of-care plan and verify each requirement with the responsible treatment staff.