Attempts to address the client's basic needs prior to treatment will help to ensure the client's cooperation in assessment. Fears of sexual victimization in jail or prison. Basic survival issues such as homelessness, hunger, and lack of employment. Women may be very anxious about such conditions as pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease, or other gynecological problems. Addressing such concerns is very important in building the relationship of trust that is essential for conducting an effective and useful assessment.
Some innovative programs provide bilingual services in English and Spanish or Portuguese.
Increasingly, people who speak languages other than English or who are learning English are entering the criminal justice system with AOD problems. In addition to assessment problems that can be created because of a client's poor grasp of English and the assessor's inability to understand a second language, the accuracy of an assessment can be compromised if the client has literacy problems in his or her own native language. It should not be assumed that the client has an adequate level of literacy in any language. The literacy level of the client should be assessed prior to the selection of terminology used in the assessment. The process of assessment is more than just obtaining a client's responses to predetermined questions.