NCJ Number
232490
Date Published
August 2010
Length
49 pages
Annotation
This paper provides guidelines to child welfare agency policymakers for developing practice and policy protocols regarding the use of drug testing in child welfare practice.
Abstract
These guidelines describe the practice and policy issues that policymakers should address, to include drug testing in the comprehensive assessment and monitoring that child welfare agencies provide. Child welfare professionals are faced with the difficult task of collecting adequate information about families, making informed and insightful decisions based on this information, and taking timely and appropriate action to safeguard children. The paper focuses primarily on drug testing parents who come to the attention of child welfare agencies and courts through reports of child abuse or neglect. It is suggested that court practices and policies may want to consider using testing in other child welfare contexts. For example, drug testing might be useful for conducting home studies for prospective foster or adoptive parents, understanding drug use patterns among teens in out-of-home care, or evaluating older youth in independent living programs. Throughout the paper, key action steps are identified to help child welfare agencies implement drug testing. Tables, references, and appendixes