Opinion ID: 1995678
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Failure to Establish Sobriety through Hair Follicle Testing

Text: [¶ 18] The evidence in the record indicates that the father has had at least three arrests related to substance use, including two arrests for possession of marijuana and one arrest for operating under the influence. Early in the proceedings, the father had declined to take a hair follicle drug test when the GAL requested one, explaining that he did not have a primary care physician and could not afford the test. The GAL agreed that a random urine test would suffice. The father purchased a test kit, was prepared to take it, and on several occasions he offered to take the test only to be told that the timing was not random enough. Consequently, a urine test was never completed. The GAL ultimately reported to the court that there was no evidence that the father was currently using drugs or had a drug problem. [¶ 19] In its judgment, the Probate Court found that there was no evidence that his OUI conviction represents a pattern of behavior for [the father], nor is there evidence that he has a substance abuse issue. The court found that the father was attending school to be an Emergency Medical Technician, he has a job in place for when he graduates, and that he will be required to submit to drug testing in order to maintain his position as an EMT. The court also noted as part of its findings that the GAL had concluded that there is no evidence that the father is currently using drugs or has a drug problem. [¶ 20] Notwithstanding the preceding findings related to the absence of proof of a substance abuse problem, the court determined that a temporarily intolerable living situation existed as to the father because of his failure to establish through hair follicle testing that he is drug-free. This finding cannot be reconciled with the court's other findings or with the total body of evidence. We thus conclude that the court erred in its implicit determination that the evidence established a need for the father to prove through hair follicle testing that he was drug-free. We modify the order by striking this erroneous finding.