Substance abuser parents to be drug tested
November 27, 2006 09:29pm
DRUG tests will be compulsory for parents with a history of substance abuse seeking the return of a child removed from their care under new welfare guidelines.
The Department of Community Services (DoCS) is preparing to trial new drug testing measures for parents at centres in Campbelltown, Penrith and Central and Western Sydney.
Under the new guidelines, drug testing would be compulsory where consideration was being given to restoring a child to parents with a history of substance abuse.
"Tests can also be applied where emergency removal of a child has not been warranted but a harmful pattern of substance misuse is suspected and removal is under consideration," said deputy operations director-general Annette Gallard.
Ms Gallard said the guidelines would work in concert with the New South Wales Government's parenting contracts, which can require parents to undertake parenting programs, stop taking illegal drugs or quit drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.
The contracts, which are drawn up by the Children's Court at the request of DoCS, were enshrined in law earlier this year, and allow for the removal of children from non-compliant parents.
"The contracts and drug testing can be used in combination to require changes in the behaviour of parents who misuse substances," Ms Gallard said.
Protocols for the exchange of information between DoCS, opioid treatment prescribers, clinics and pharmacists have also been revised to provide additional child protection information and remind methadone providers of their responsibilities and risks in prescribing the drug to parents.
The hardline approach aims to reduce, in particular, methadone-related deaths of children in the state.
Seven children died between 2003 and 2006 from methadone overdose, with a 26-year-old Sydney woman this month found guilty of the manslaughter of her infant son in the NSW Supreme Court.
The six-month-old was pronounced dead on arrival at Nepean Hospital in January last year, with traces of methadone, methamphetamine and paracetamol found in his blood.
He also had traces of methadone and methamphetamine in his bile, and there were traces of at least four drugs in his urine.
The trial will run for 12 months through 2007 and will be reviewed before extension to other DoCS offices.
