A complete, standalone evaluation on its own evidence and reasoning, conducted by secure telehealth across Minnesota.
A substance use assessment can shape big decisions: treatment, a court outcome, probation terms, a custody finding, your professional license, your job, even insurance. If a prior assessment’s conclusions do not match the real picture, or if a major decision is about to rest on a single evaluation, it is reasonable to get an independent one of your own.
Arlucent provides independent reassessments for adults in Minnesota. A reassessment is a complete, standalone evaluation: we reach our own conclusion on our own evidence and reasoning. It does not reference, rely on, or evaluate any prior assessment, and it is not a review of another evaluator’s work. It is your own independent evaluation, from someone with no stake in the outcome. Evaluations are done by secure video and follow the ASAM Criteria, Minnesota’s DHS 245G standards, and standard DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnoses.
These are the situations we see most. They are not the only ones, and whether yours fits is confirmed at intake.
You have a prior assessment from a treatment program
An assessment done by a clinician connected to a treatment program reached conclusions, a diagnosis, a severity rating, or a recommended level of care, that you, your family, or your attorney want to set alongside an independent one. This is the most common reason people come to us. We conduct our own full evaluation and produce an independent clinical picture that can be given to a court, a licensing board, an employer, your family, or simply to you.
You have a probation or court-ordered assessment
An assessment done through probation, treatment court, or a court order reached conclusions you have reason to want tested independently, perhaps because the evaluator was connected to the program being recommended, perhaps because of the conditions it was done under, or perhaps because the result does not match what you and your attorney know to be true. An independent reassessment gives the same process a second, independent clinical document to weigh.
Before committing to treatment
You have been told you need treatment, at a certain level, for a certain length of time, at a certain place, and you want an independent read before committing your time, your money, and months of your life to it. Nothing is being contested here; you just want your own reference point before a big decision. This comes up often when the treatment is private-pay, when insurance approval depends on documented need, or when your job, family, or legal situation means the decision has to be right.
Family court and custody
A prior assessment has been entered in a family court case and one party wants an independent evaluation to set beside it. What we produce is a parallel clinical document for the court and the parties to weigh. It is not a rebuttal, and it is not an advocacy document.
Professional licensure
A licensed professional has been assessed in connection with a licensure matter, a professional health program referral, or an employer requirement, and wants an independent evaluation. Licensure situations have their own rules and requirements, which are covered on the Licensure Evaluation page.
A reassessment is a full evaluation, not a paper exercise. We do not read a prior report and write a critique of it. We conduct our own structured clinical interview and reach our own findings across the ASAM areas, the same way any primary assessment is done. The result is an independent clinical picture of you, built from our own contact with you, not a commentary on someone else’s document.
Records still matter, and we review the ones that apply: your history of use, prior treatment, mental health, medical background, and any court or licensure records relevant to the situation. Where a prior assessment exists, you are welcome to provide it, and it helps us understand the context and the decisions in front of you. But it is background, not the subject. Our findings come from our own evaluation, and the report does not depend on, quote, or grade the prior assessment.
The report does not take sides. It keeps documented evidence, analysis, and conclusions clearly separate, and it presents our clinical picture the way any primary assessment would, with diagnoses, severity, and the evidence behind them stated plainly. If our independent conclusion happens to differ from an earlier one, the report does not argue the point; it simply states what we found and why, and lets the reader weigh it.
An independent evaluation only means something if it comes from somewhere genuinely independent. An evaluator who provides treatment, refers to treatment, or is tied to treatment providers cannot produce a truly independent evaluation of a treatment question, because their own recommendations come out of the same kind of setup. What you get from a source like that is not an independent reference. It is another version of the same thing.
Arlucent is built to be that independent reference point. We provide no treatment, no therapy, no referrals, and no ongoing care, and we have nothing to gain from any particular finding. Our job ends when the written report is delivered.
There are three levels, from a standard evaluation up to a full comprehensive one. Which one fits depends on how complex the situation is and what the report is for, and you do not have to work that out yourself. It is settled at intake. The three levels are laid out plainly on the How it works page.
For an independent reassessment, the deeper two levels are usually the right fit, since these cases tend to involve consequential decisions or more than one system at once.
See the three levels on How it works →
It starts with a short, confidential questionnaire that tells us whether an independent reassessment fits your situation. If it does, we confirm the details in writing and ask for the records we will need. Expect that list to be a little longer than for a first assessment: alongside your history, we will want any prior assessment and the records behind it, and anything that has happened since, so we understand the full context. The evaluation is then done by secure video, and the written report follows. If you have a court date, a licensing deadline, a treatment start date, or any other deadline, tell us at intake so we can plan around it.
Appointments are private-pay and confirmed once payment is received.
Your evaluation is done by Rafael Lewis, M.A., LADC, the founder of Arlucent Assessments and a licensed alcohol and drug counselor in Minnesota. He is a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and the creator of the Arlucent Seventh Dimension™. He has held leadership roles in licensed substance use treatment programs, so he knows first-hand the standards, the paperwork, and the real-world pressures these evaluations have to meet.
More on his background is on the About page.
You have been through a designated evaluation, HPSP or a board-designated evaluator or similar, and want an independent reassessment of your own. To be clear about what this is: an independent reassessment does not replace the designated evaluation. That remains the document your authority recognizes. What a reassessment gives you is a parallel, independent clinical reference that you, your attorney, and the deciding authority can weigh alongside it.
Whether an independent evaluation fits your situation starts with the short questionnaire. It is brief and confidential, and it is how we confirm the case is a fit and identify the right level. Scheduling, documentation, and payment are confirmed in writing afterward.
Arlucent Assessments · Independent Evaluation
Minnesota
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Arlucent Assessments provides independent clinical evaluation services only and does not provide therapy, treatment, clinical care, advocacy, referrals, or ongoing professional services.
Inquiries are handled in accordance with applicable confidentiality and privacy standards.