Since August, Les Schultz, former New Ulm City Councilor and former Brown County Probation Director, has worked part-time as a probation and parole liaison for the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA). His new position involves teaching agencies to use the Impaired Driving Assessment (IDA) tool to identify DWI offenders at risk for reoffending. However, the recent freeze on federal funding has created an uncertain future for the program.

NEW ULM – The ongoing uncertainty over federal funding continues to have unforeseen consequences that impact residents and public safety.

Les Schultz, a former New Ulm City Councilor and former Brown County Probation Director found his new part-time position as a probation and parole liaison in limbo.

On Aug. 1 of last year, Schultz was hired to a part-time position through the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) as a teacher-trainer for the Impaired Driving Assessment (IDA). The program was funded through the Department of Transportation (DOT) which was one of the departments hit by President Trump’s federal freezes. Though the federal freeze was rescinded, the DOT held off on reinstating the IDA training program out of concern for future cuts.

Schultz is disappointed that he cannot carry on with his work as he believes the IDA training is a valuable tool that could improve safety nationwide.

He said IDA is a screening tool for probation officers. It is used to determine which DWI offenders are most likely to re-offend.

“Two-thirds of offenders never get another DWI,” Schultz said. “They self-correct. The time in court, the fines and the embarrassment all keep them from offending again.”

However, about one-third of offenders get a second DWI. The idea behind the IDA screening is to determine which are the most likely to be offended.

“The screener tells you who to spend the most time with,” Schultz said. Instead of spending extra time on individuals who will not offend again, probation officers can prioritize those with the greatest risk.

Schultz said the screening tool developed is very accurate and has the potential to make it easier for probation officers to prevent repeat DWI offenses. The only problem is there are few people who are teaching how to use the tool.

Schultz said when IDA was first unveiled in 2013, there was only one person in the country teaching others how to do the assessment. The nationwide rollout of the assessment tool has been slow. In August, the number of trainers was increased to four, which included Schultz.

Schultz was put in charge of the mid western area. He has done most of his training over Zoom and said the response has been positive.

Schultz said a month after providing training in Steele County, he heard back that it was already working. A probation officer ran an offender through the IDA and they came back as a high risk. The officer decided to do a home check during the day and found the offender intoxicated with car keys in their hands preparing to drive.

“That’s proof right there this tool works,” Schultz said.

He said once people learn how to use the assessment tool, they like it. The problem is not many know about it yet.

“That’s why I was surprised to get an order to cut the program,” Schultz said.

On Jan. 28, Schultz and his colleagues received an email from the APPA issuing a stop work order. The executive orders signed by President Trump aimed at ending wasteful government spending placed a freeze on grant funding that impacted the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT was providing funding for the IDA training program, meaning the end of Schultz’s part-time position. The federal freeze was ultimately rescinded by Trump following the backlash, but the DOT kept the work-stop order in place out of fear of more federal cuts. Schultz was scheduled to attend three conferences and teach the IDA over the next few months, but because of the work stoppage, he canceled it under the assumption the DOT would not restart the program. Then, on Feb. 13 the DOT decided to bring the program back. Unfortunately, many of the plans he had in place were already canceled.

“It was very frustrating,” Schultz said. “I honestly did not think we would be brought back.”

Schultz is not worried about making ends meet. He is semi-retired and was only working the position part-time. His concerns are about the stability of a program that can make a significant impact on public safety.

In 2022 on a national level, there were over a million DWI arrests with 13,354 alcohol-related fatalities. In Minnesota, there were 20,422 DWI arrests and 130 alcohol fatalities. Schultz said these figures are fairly average from year to year and believe they can be reduced through prevention.

“Let’s stop alcohol fatalities involving alcohol,” Schultz said. “That’s 100% preventable.”

Schultz said the training to use IDA is free. It could be provided without cost to the counties because of the federal funding through the DOT. Offering the training free, was an assessment for agencies to adopt it. The fear is without stable funding, fewer agencies will know of this valuable assessment tool.