Concateno recommends national standards for parental substance misuse testing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 1, 2011 -- Concateno, Europe’s most experienced drug and alcohol testing company, has called for national standard procedures for testing for parental substance misuse in child protection casework, working in partnership with the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC).

It is estimated that up to 1.3 million children in the UK are affected by parental alcohol misuse, which means that one in 11 children live in a family with alcohol problems – and in half of child protection cases, parental alcohol misuse was identified as a factor1. One in five families is now affected by a family member’s illegal drug misuse2, and there are believed to be between 250,000 and 350,000 children of problem drug users in the UK, about one for every problem drug user3. In 2010, Concateno’s specialist child protection division TrichoTech provided more than 11,500 tests to family law and social work professionals for cases where parental substance misuse was either known to be or was suspected as an issue.

Concateno’s call comes following the publication of part one of the Munro Review of Child Protection; the first in a series of three reports commissioned by the Department of Education to identify possible improvements in frontline child protection services. It also follows Concateno’s submission to the Family Justice Review, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, Department for Education and Welsh Assembly Government.

In submitting evidence to both reviews, Concateno TrichoTech responded with suggestions on the important role that testing for drugs of abuse can play in supporting child custody and protection cases. The organisation also made recommendations for better ways in which childcare professionals could utilise substance misuse testing data to improve social work practice – showcasing its relationship with the Family Drug and Alcohol Court.

Drawing on 15 years’ experience of testing and reporting on child welfare cases, Concateno TrichoTech has set out the need for a defined national and local regulatory framework, determining which professionals are responsible for ordering parental substance testing, along with evidence to base these orders upon and formal procedures for undertaking the task. Further recommendations were made to introduce a policy of laboratory accreditation to help ensure reliability and accuracy of testing. Concateno TrichoTech also advised on the adoption of objective training with regards to the evidence drug testing can provide, on the basis that it is important for all parties involved to be aware of the strengths and limitations of such tests.

“The TrichoTest™ hair analysis has been used in family law cases in England and Wales for more than a decade now, and provides a long-term profile of drug use or abstinence by a parent,” explained Liam Feasey of Concateno TrichoTech. “This long window of detection over a period of months provides the kind of history that really helps prove a parent has kicked their drugs habit and makes it much easier for a court to consider their children’s future safety.”

According to FDAC service manager Sophie Kershaw: “We have found the support and partnership working with TrichoTech to be beneficial to the parents and professionals in terms of speed, analysis, troubleshooting issues, with the added value of a cheaper testing service to the courts/public pocket.”

Working in partnership: Family Drug and Alcohol Court and Concateno

Concateno TrichoTech offers UKAS ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited hair drug and alcohol testing relating to the detection of parental substance misuse, enabling reliable and fact-based decisions to be made over the protection, health and well-being of affected children.

Social workers and legal professionals rely on the TrichoTest®, evidence-based hair analysis, to detect parental substance misuse. This allows them to use scientific data to aid difficult decisions on child welfare, residency and contact orders.

Concateno’s child protection services include:

• Hair analysis for drugs (for a range of drug groups)

• Hair and blood analysis for alcohol

• Reporting Scientists’ Expert Witness Reports and consultation, court defence of testing procedures

• Collection service

• Fully defensible ‘chain of custody’ procedure

• Educational seminars and training

Together, the FDAC and Concateno TrichoTech have devised a tailored and rapid-response service to ensure that those frontline professionals involved with the FDAC receive parental testing services as soon as required. Concateno has also provided a tailored training support programme for the FDAC to reinforce this; ensuring samples are taken correctly and follow all relevant chain of custody procedures.

For more information please visit http://www.concateno.com/

Drug Testing