I am being asked to monitor my alcohol usage through a breathalyser for social services.

If you have any involvement with social services that relates to your alcohol misuse it is likely you will be asked to undertake alcohol testing. There are lots of different methods that social services may use to monitor your usage.

Two of the most used methods are blood alcohol testing and hair alcohol testing. Blood analysis can present whether someone has drunk excessively over a 28-day period. Hair strand testing can show a 3 – 6-month overview of your alcohol usage.

If Local Authority’s wish to have a cumulative overview of alcohol usage in present time, there are other options. Usually a SCRAM bracelet is used, which is a band attached to the user’s leg and detects usage in real-time. The results are gathered and alert other’s if the user has consumed alcohol.

A new alternative for real-time testing has now been introduced rather than the SCRAM bracelet. Instead, a breathalyser test, called Soberlink, brought to the UK exclusively by DNA Legal, now provides remote alcohol monitoring. Soberlink includes facial recognition that consider if there are any tampering attempts. The user will then have a window of 2 hours at an agreed frequency per day to provide a breathalyser test. Legal representatives can then have access to these results and be notified if they are not completed.

Soberlink may be an option for individuals who wish to demonstrate in real time they are not consuming alcohol. This may be something that is facilitated during times you are having contact with your children and may give other parties reassurance that you are not under the influence during this time.

Soberlink is a tool to allow families to rebuild trust around Alcohol consumption alongside providing clear and real time evidence for Care Proceedings.

How can we help?

If you are being asked to undertake alcohol testing, we understand that this can be a stressful time therefore we can provide legal advice. We have experience in assisting parents at all stages of Local Authority involvement. Please contact Johnson Astills at either our Leicester office on 0116 255 4855 or our Loughborough office on 01509 610 312 and ask or a member of the Care Team. Alternatively you contact us through our free online enquiry form or email us at careteam@johnsonastills.com and a member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Visit https://www.dnalegal.com/remote-alcohol-monitoring-soberlink for more details about Soberlink from DNA Legal.