"Alcohol's not my drug of choice," they'd say. Or "I've never drank in my life."
Many were so convincing that the question of test quality came up at weekly staff meetings. A few clients convinced their counselors there was a defect with the tests.
When clients protested too much we'd even put them on the phone with a lab technician at the testing company. And of course the technician would tell them exactly what the test showed. And how there was little probability there was a mistake – maybe less than a half of a percent.
But over a six-week period we kept getting positive tests for alcohol among half a dozen clients.
This went on long enough that we had a talk with the company representative. Could there be something wrong with the testing procedures? He assured us there wasn't. His company didn't become a nationwide corporation by doing shoddy work.
So what to do? Finally the staff came up with a solution. And it's one that seems to work – at least so far.
We bought a couple of breathalyzers to use on-site. So now – when clients are off property – they may receive a random test when they return. They never know when the tests will happen. Nor do we. Whenever our managers get the urge - or have an intuitive feeling - they'll use the breathalyzer.
When clients protested too much we'd even put them on the phone with a lab technician at the testing company. And of course the technician would tell them exactly what the test showed. And how there was little probability there was a mistake – maybe less than a half of a percent.
But over a six-week period we kept getting positive tests for alcohol among half a dozen clients.
This went on long enough that we had a talk with the company representative. Could there be something wrong with the testing procedures? He assured us there wasn't. His company didn't become a nationwide corporation by doing shoddy work.
So what to do? Finally the staff came up with a solution. And it's one that seems to work – at least so far.
We bought a couple of breathalyzers to use on-site. So now – when clients are off property – they may receive a random test when they return. They never know when the tests will happen. Nor do we. Whenever our managers get the urge - or have an intuitive feeling - they'll use the breathalyzer.
And the interesting thing is that since we began using them about six weeks ago no one has come up dirty for alcohol – not one.
Hmmm...
