{"id":243356,"date":"2024-11-10T09:20:17","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T09:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/?p=243356"},"modified":"2024-11-10T09:20:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T09:20:17","slug":"children-taken-away-from-parents-due-to-misreporting-of-drug-tests-say-experts-family-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominiclevent.com\/blog\/children-taken-away-from-parents-due-to-misreporting-of-drug-tests-say-experts-family-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Children taken away from parents due to misreporting of drug tests, say experts | Family law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Children are at risk of being wrongly removed from their parents\u2019 care by the family courts because drug tests are being misinterpreted, experts have warned.<\/p>\n

Life-changing decisions about whether a child should be placed in the care of a local authority can sometimes hinge on the outcome of hair-strand tests, designed to show whether a parent has consumed drugs or excessive alcohol.<\/p>\n

But the process used to interpret the results can be misleading and carries a risk of racial bias, according to lawyers and campaigners.<\/p>\n

Paul Hunter, an expert in the field of drug testing, told The Bureau of Investigative Journalism<\/a> that \u201cnon-drug users are losing their children\u201d due to the misreporting of hair-strand test results.<\/p>\n

Hair-strand testing has been in use since the 1990s and is commonplace in family courts. When a person uses a drug, such as cocaine, its presence within the bloodstream means traces of it are incorporated into the hair as it grows. But crucially, the levels of drug present in the hair do not equate to drug consumption when looked at in isolation.<\/p>\n

Data collected by hundreds of researchers over the past 30 years shows that numerous factors, including race, hair colour, pregnancy and exposure to UV rays, can affect the amount of a drug absorbed in a sample of hair, as can the use of certain hair products. Significant levels of a drug can be found in someone\u2019s hair because they share a living space with drug users. Meanwhile, low levels of a drug \u2013 or none at all \u2013 can be found in hair taken from a regular user \u2013 for example, if it has been dyed or treated.<\/p>\n

The issue of test results being misreported is the subject of an open letter <\/a>sent on Tuesday to the family division of the high court. The letter, signed by lawyers, academics and campaigners, calls for urgent reform to how results are presented in court as evidence.<\/p>\n

Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the family division of England and Wales, said: \u201cConcerns about the accuracy and interpretation of drug tests are taken very seriously.\u201d He has referred the issue to the Family Justice Council \u201cfor urgent consideration\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hair strand testing can be used in public law cases \u2013 where the local authority may have concerns about the impact of substance misuse on a child \u2013 and private disputes where one parent may raise a complaint about the other\u2019s drug or alcohol use.<\/p>\n

Hunter, technical director at Forensic Testing Service Ltd, is brought in as an expert witness to advise the courts in complex cases or when there are conflicting results from different labs.<\/p>\n

He said the biggest problem is the use of \u201ccut-off levels\u201d, the threshold above which a person is considered to be a drug user. The cut-off levels were developed by the Society of Hair Testing almost 30 years ago, long before research established what is now known about the impact of influencing factors on drug absorption, such as hair colour, race and environmental factors.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, many drug companies continue to use the binary system of cut-off levels to report test results. This is despite discrepancies such as the fact that hair with darker pigmentation will absorb drugs more readily. This leads to a person who has black hair having dramatically higher levels compared with those who have light brown or blond hair, even if they have identical drug use.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, within the subsection of black hair there are huge variations based on race, meaning people of African-Caribbean, African or Asian descent are more likely to lose custody of their child.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe danger is that \u2018positive\u2019 and \u2018negative\u2019 results are being treated at face value without room for wider interpretation,\u201d said Hunter. \u201cSocial workers and parenting assessors advising the courts will often equate the level of drug detected in the hair as evidence of drug consumption, which is dangerous and wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The open letter sent to the family division states: \u201cThere is a compelling body of evidence that shows the processes used to interpret the results are vastly oversimplified and misleading.\u201d It calls for an end to \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d cut-off levels and warns of the \u201crisk of systematic racial bias\u201d.<\/p>\n

It has been long-established that the use of hair strand testing in isolation should not be relied on. In a 2017 judgment<\/a>, Mr Justice Hayden wrote that hair strand testing \u201cshould never be regarded as determinative or conclusive\u201d.<\/p>\n

One group of particular concern is pregnant women and new mothers, because of the significant growth in the rate of infant care proceedings. Child protection proceedings for newborn babies have risen from more than 1,000 in 2007\/2008 to nearly 2,500 in 2016\/2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a first-time mother, you have a lot to prove in a short time frame about your capacity to parent and your commitment to addressing some of the issues that might have led to the concerns including substance use,\u201d says Kirsty Kitchen, head of policy at Birth Companions.<\/p>\n

The charity, which supports women who experience disadvantage in the justice system, organised the open letter and formed the campaign, Taking A Strand, along with barristers from 4PB and MSB Solicitors.<\/p>\n

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