More drug tests for parents of at-risk children, but Child Protection Department silent on results

THE number of parents of at-risk children facing drug and alcohol tests is soaring — but authorities still will not say how many are returning positive results or what consequences they face.

• More tests for druggie parents — but results not released
• Abusive parents to be forced into drug tests if kids are at risk

THE number of parents of at-risk children facing drug and alcohol tests is soaring — but authorities still will not say how many are returning positive results or what consequences they face.

It has prompted renewed concerns that children are being left with substance-addicted parents and calls for the State Government to be more transparent.

So far this financial year 1023 parents have been made to undergo tests for alcohol or illicit drugs.

The figure — provided by the Child Protection Department following requests from The Advertiser — is on track to surpass the total 1064 parents tested in 2015-16.

The number has skyrocketed from 185 in 2013-14, following the strengthening of legislation in the wake of the Chloe Valentine coronial inquest and Nyland Royal Commission.

However, the department will not say how many parents are returning positive test results nor what happens to children in those families.

A spokeswoman for the department told The Advertiser that its focus was on “the safety and care of children” and it was “not in a position to release results of individual tests”.

Child Development Minister Susan Close has previously said that further information could not be produced without time-consuming manual searches of individual records.

In her examination of the state’s child protection system, Royal Commissioner Margaret Nyland highlighted the inadequacy of the department’s IT system and urged a review.

Her report quotes one user of the system who described it as “like a jigsaw puzzle ... you can eventually put a picture together but not easily and not in a reasonable time”.

Ms Nyland’s report also lists a series of cases where children were left in unsafe homes where parents were intoxicated.

Belinda Valentine, whose granddaughter Chloe died in 2012 after repeated reports about her welfare to authorities, welcomed the increased drug testing of parents, but called on the department to go further.

“We need to know how many are testing positive and what support mechanisms are being put in place for the children of those people,” she said.

“One drug test does not protect a child.”

A Government Bill before Parliament would give the department chief executive the power to compel parents to undergo drug or alcohol testing if their child was feared to be at risk, in line with Ms Nyland’s recommendations.

Family First MP Rob Brokenshire is drafting amendments to that legislation to put further restrictions on parents who test positive.

Opposition child protection spokeswoman Rachel Sanderson said she was aware of children “being left with parents whose substance abuse has been confirmed time and again”.