Substance Use Concerns

A note before we begin: This guide is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified Colorado family law attorney.

Your Situation

Substance use concerns — allegations or evidence that a parent or someone in a parent's household is using alcohol or drugs in a way that affects a child's safety — sit at the heart of many of the hardest custody disputes. Whether you're the parent raising the concern or the parent being accused, the stakes are high and personal: parenting time, your relationship with your children, and in the most serious cases, whether a child stays in the home at all.

These issues come up often in high-conflict cases, right alongside allegations of abuse and safety fears. Colorado courts take them seriously because a child's safety is on the line, which means the court approaches both the allegation and the defense with real caution. That cuts both ways. If you're worried about the other parent, you'll need more than a worry — you'll need evidence. If you're being accused, a simple denial won't satisfy a court's child-safety concerns; you'll need to answer with proof. This guide will help you understand what the law allows, how judges actually handle these cases, and what concrete steps you can take whichever side of the issue you're on.

What the Law Requires

Colorado law gives judges specific tools when substance use affects a child. When a court finds that a parent committed domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect, it can bar that parent from possessing or consuming alcohol, intoxicating substances, or controlled substances during parenting time and for the 24 hours before parenting time begins. A parenting plan can also include restrictions or outright prohibitions on a parent's use of alcohol or drugs as part of protecting the child's well-being.

Medical marijuana is treated differently. Because its use is permitted under the Colorado Constitution, a parent's medical marijuana use — standing alone — is not a basis to restrict parenting time. A court must make a specific finding that the use endangers the child before limiting parenting time on that ground. There's an important exception: if a parent has already agreed in a parenting plan not to use marijuana, a court can order that parent to keep that promise without treating it as a new restriction requiring an endangerment finding.

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On its own, substance use is not automatically a reason to restrict a parent's time — the key question Colorado law asks is whether the use actually endangers the child.

When substance use is alleged, the court looks closely at two best-interest factors: the mental and physical health of everyone involved, and each parent's ability to put the child's needs ahead of their own. Importantly, a disability by itself cannot be used to deny or restrict parenting time. Substance use can also ripple into other areas — for example, losing a job after being fired for drug use is not automatically treated as "voluntary" unemployment when a court calculates child support, though a parent's choices after the termination can change that analysis.

In the most severe situations, documented substance abuse by a parent can trigger a dependency and neglect case, and a child can be removed from the home and placed in foster care while the parent works through a treatment plan.

What Courts Typically Do

In practice, Colorado courts don't restrict parenting time just because a parent drinks or uses a substance. They want evidence tying the use to actual harm or risk to the child. Allegations that a parent drinks alcohol in the children's presence, in a way that places them in danger, can be enough to require a hearing. By contrast, courts have reversed orders that imposed supervised parenting time based on marijuana use alone, where there was no evidentiary hearing and no finding of endangerment. Evidence showing the effects of substance use on a child — secondhand smoke exposure, a negative change in how the parent treats the child — is what makes a difference.

When these concerns surface, courts commonly:

• Order supervised parenting time, often with a supervisor who assesses the parent for drug or alcohol use before each visit.
• Impose conditions like sobriety during and before parenting time, monitoring (such as Soberlink, urinalysis, or ETG testing), a chemical use assessment, or completion of a treatment program.
• Restrict or modify parenting time when a parent fails to complete court-ordered drug testing or counseling that were set as prerequisites.
• Appoint a neutral investigator or a legal representative for the child to look into the concern directly.

A court-appointed investigator — a Child and Family Investigator or similar professional — will typically interview both parents about past and current use and its family impact, talk to collateral contacts (grandparents, school staff, therapists, sponsors, probation officers), and review monitoring results. In some cases a court can order a forensic addiction evaluation, which uses objective, validated screening tools and corroboration from family, employers, and professional contacts to produce findings that can hold up in litigation.

A reality worth knowing: courts won't enforce a promise that a parent will "never drink again." That kind of clause isn't feasible or enforceable. What courts can work with are concrete, testable conditions — and restrictions framed as mutual obligations on both parents (for example, neither parent exposing the children to substance use or driving them while impaired) tend to generate less conflict and more compliance.

Step by Step: What to Do

1. Get honest about what you actually know. Before taking any legal action, ask whether your concern is based on real information or on a gap in information. Identify what evidence would confirm or dispel it.

2. Document specific incidents. Note dates, locations, and exactly what happened — whether police or a child protection agency got involved, whether the parent arrived at an exchange under the influence, and whether friends, family, or the child reported concerning behavior. Keep this documentation organized and specific; vague worries carry little weight, but detailed records are persuasive.

3. File the right motion or request. If you're asking the court to restrict parenting time, your motion must state specific grounds with particularity and explain why relief is warranted. A sworn affidavit can support a request for drug testing. The guided wizard on this site will prepare and pre-fill the correct Colorado paperwork for your situation so you don't have to track down and complete the forms yourself.

4. Ask for testing or an evaluation if appropriate. A motion for drug testing requires a genuine controversy about the parent's condition, good cause, and proper notice to the person to be tested. The court can also order a screening, a forensic addiction evaluation, or appoint an investigator to look into the concern.

5. Propose concrete, workable conditions. Rather than asking for a blanket ban, consider specific safeguards: sobriety during and before parenting time, monitoring with results shared, a chemical use assessment with follow-through, or supervised time that can be revisited once the parent addresses the issue.

6. If you're the one being accused, build affirmative evidence. Gather clean test results (blood, urine, breathalyzer), work attendance records, a clean driving record, a general medical report, and statements from people who can confirm your sobriety or that any drinking only happens after the children are asleep. A denial alone won't resolve a court's safety concerns. Consider accepting short-term supervised time while you assemble your evidence, so you don't lose contact with your children.

7. Cooperate fully with any investigator or evaluator. Provide organized copies of relevant orders and documents, and sign releases so monitoring results can go directly to the investigator. The court weighs the entire investigation and any testimony before adopting a recommendation — it is not bound by it.

What Research Shows Can Help

Guidance drawn from family-court research and clinical practice points to a few things that work better than others.

Research and clinical guidance suggest that specific, testable conditions — sobriety requirements, monitoring, chemical assessments, and treatment with aftercare — protect children more reliably than unenforceable promises. When the underlying issue is genuinely addressed, prior restrictions can be eased, so these conditions are best understood as adjustable, not permanent.

Clinical guidance also suggests that framing restrictions as mutual reduces anger and resistance. A clause that both parents agree not to expose the children to drugs or alcohol, and not to drive them while impaired, protects children while keeping the parent from feeling singled out.

For older children, developmental research notes that kids aged 10–13 may begin experimenting with alcohol, drugs, and rule-breaking, and that teens under school-related stress need patient, consistent, supportive care — a reason to pay attention to household rules and supervision across both homes.

Finally, where substance use overlaps with intimate partner violence, evaluators treat alcohol misuse and drug use as risk factors considered alongside other danger indicators — not as standalone proof that future harm will occur.

What to Do Today

• Start a written log of specific incidents — dates, places, what was said and done, and who else witnessed it. Specifics are what move a court.
• Gather your objective evidence. If you're raising a concern, collect any police or agency records. If you're defending against one, start pulling together test results, work records, a clean driving record, and witnesses.
• Begin the guided wizard to prepare the correct paperwork for a motion, a testing request, or proposed parenting-time conditions — it fills out the right Colorado forms based on your situation.
• Think through workable conditions you could propose: sobriety windows, monitoring, an assessment with follow-through, or short-term supervised time that can be revisited.
• If there is any immediate danger to a child, treat it as an emergency and contact the appropriate authorities rather than waiting for a hearing.

Related Issues to Be Aware Of

Supervised parenting time. When substance use endangers a child, supervised parenting time is one of the most common tools a court uses, often with a supervisor assessing the parent for substance use before each visit. If you're the restricted parent, you can file a verified motion to modify the restriction, and the court must act on it within 35 days.

Mental health. Courts weigh the mental and physical health of everyone involved, and substance use often intersects with mental health concerns. Remember that a disability by itself cannot be the basis to deny or restrict parenting time — the focus stays on how a condition actually affects the child.

Expert witnesses and evaluators. A court can appoint a neutral investigator or evaluator, such as a Child and Family Investigator or a forensic addiction evaluator, to dig into substance use concerns. Their report carries weight, but the court weighs the entire report and any testimony before adopting a recommendation — it does not control the outcome.

Documenting problems and gathering evidence. Because courts demand specifics, strong documentation is often the difference between a motion that gets a hearing and one that doesn't. Keep organized copies of orders and filings, and be ready to provide them promptly to any investigator.

Order non-compliance. If a parent ignores court-ordered testing, counseling, or parenting-time conditions, that non-compliance can itself support modifying or restricting parenting time. Keep in mind that parenting time and support are independent — one parent's breach doesn't excuse the other's obligations.