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Concateno recommends national standards
Concateno recommends national standards
Concateno TrichoTech offers UKAS ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited hair drug and alcohol testing.
London,
London,
United Kingdom
(prbd.net)
18/02/2011
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.
Now, the FDAC hold its own sample packs so when it is identified that a test is needed, its own people decide on the analysis, take the sample and return the sample to Concateno TrichoTech. This dramatically speeds up the time it takes to secure the necessary consent to proceed and ensures action is taken swiftly.
This type of process and working relationship has meant the FDAC has received the relevant training it needed – including a number of judges for various training days this year and last. It also means that the entire testing process is dramatically reduced, which in turn speeds up any necessary family intervention to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child concerned.
Munro Review of Child Protection
The Munro Review was commissioned in June 2010 amid widespread concerns that the current child protection system in England is not working as well as it should. The wide-ranging study aims to remove barriers to bureaucracy so that social workers can achieve more face-to-face time with children and families. As part of the ongoing review, Professor Eileen Munro is interested to hear new and innovative examples of good practice to understand how they were made possible and what obstacles had to be overcome.
Part One of Professor Munro’s report profiles the work of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) and its specialist multi-disciplinary team of adult substance misuse workers working alongside other frontline experts such as social workers and psychiatrists. It recommends that this team be introduced at an earlier stage in the child protection process to enable skilled assessment and support to be provided for families where parental substance misuse is an issue.
Family Justice Review
The Family Justice Review aims to reform the family justice system so that it is quicker, simpler and more cost-effective and fairer while continuing to protect children and vulnerable adults from risk of harm. The review was launched in June 2010 under the leadership of independent chair David Norgrove. In its first stage, the review called for evidence from anyone involved in the family justice system – including parents, children, families, professionals and representative bodies. The review panel’s analysis of this evidence will support its proposals for reform of the system.
• Concateno is currently preparing to submit further evidence to the next stage of the Munro Review.
• Further to the initial Munro Review Part One: A Systems Analysis, Professor Munro is due to submit her final report in April 2011 following publication of the interim findings in January 2011.
• Proposals arising from the Family Justice Review are expected in an interim report in Spring 2011.
For more information please visit http://www.concateno.com/
About
Concateno is Europe's leading drug and alcohol testing service provider and a manufacturer of clinical diagnostic instruments and drug testing kits. Working in Child Protection, Clinical Diagnostics, Criminal Justice, the workplace, Healthcare and the Maritime industry.
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