If you are in a Los Angeles custody matter and have been asked to show a drug test result, one way to get one is a urine collection at your own address, if it is within 20 miles of Century City. Testr sends a certified collector to the door, reads a 14-panel rapid screen on site and seals the specimen under a chain-of-custody code. The result goes to the account that ordered it. This post explains that process, from booking to the report.
It does not cover what a court orders, requires or accepts. Those are questions for your attorney or the court.
Ask your attorney or the court first
Before you book anything, ask your attorney or the court what they accept. If an order or a written agreement names a testing provider, a laboratory or a collection method, ask them how it applies before you book. Testr cannot tell you whether its record fits your order.
Two facts help with that conversation. Testr runs non-DOT tests only, and every Testr test is a urine test: no hair, saliva, blood or breath testing. DOT vs non-DOT drug test in Los Angeles explains what that label means.
Who can book the test
The person being tested. You can book for yourself in the Testr iOS app or at testrla.com/book. Your name goes on the record and the result is released to your account.
Their attorney. A family-law attorney can book the visit for a client as a someone-else booking. The client's name goes on the record, and the results go to the attorney's account. At the visit, the adult being tested signs an authorization naming the person who booked as the one who receives the result. If they decline to sign, no result is released to the account that booked.
Anyone else booking for an adult. A family member or another professional uses the same someone-else booking, and the same authorization rule applies.
Whoever was tested can also ask Testr for a copy of their own result and chain-of-custody record. One person is tested per booking. Testr for professionals covers booking for a client in more detail.
What happens at the door
Visits run in 30-minute arrival windows from 7 AM to 7 PM, seven days a week, at addresses within 20 miles of Century City. The booking screen checks the exact address against the live service area when you book. The earliest window is 3 hours after you book, so a collector can be there in as little as 3 hours. Every collector clears a background check before their first visit, holds current CPR certification, and arrives in plain clothes and an unmarked vehicle.
Every visit includes the same steps:
Door PIN. The collector checks the private 4-digit PIN shown on the booker's screen before anything starts.
Collection and temperature. The specimen is given in private, and the collector does not watch. The specimen's temperature is checked within minutes of collection and recorded.
The 14-panel read. The collector reads each of the 14 panels on site as negative or presumptive positive against its screening cutoff, along with creatinine, oxidant and pH checks for dilution and adulteration.
Seal and signatures. The specimen is sealed with tamper-evident tape, and the seal is photographed before it leaves the room. The person tested signs a certification that the specimen is theirs and unaltered (for someone under 18, the parent or legal guardian signs), and the collector signs too.
Custody code. One chain-of-custody code ties the specimen, the report and any laboratory result together.
The collector waits 15 minutes past the start of the window, and once the visit begins the person being tested has up to one hour to provide a sample. If a visit cannot be completed, the record shows that it was not completed and why. An incomplete collection is not a result, and Testr will not describe it as a positive or as evidence of anything.
What the record documents
Each record names the test ordered and the person tested, then documents the visit link by link:
the door-PIN check
the specimen temperature check
the photographed tamper-evident seal
both signatures
the chain-of-custody code
the read on each of the 14 panels
When laboratory confirmation is ordered, the laboratory report with measured levels is tied to the same record by the same custody code. The record sits in the account that placed the order.
A record also has limits. A result shows whether one specimen, collected on one day, read positive at or above a set cutoff. It cannot show when a substance was taken, how much was taken, or whether anyone was impaired. A negative is not proof of abstinence: a substance will not show up if it was used outside its detection window, if the specimen read below the cutoff when it was collected, or if it is not among the substances tested. Testr does not testify as a witness or give opinions about what a result means, and anything beyond the record itself has to be arranged with Testr in advance.
Rapid screen or laboratory confirmation
There are two tests, and you choose one at booking.
The At-Home Rapid Test is the 14-panel urine screen read at the door. A rapid panel is an immunoassay screen: it reads presumptive positive at or above its cutoff and does not report a measured level. A positive screen is preliminary and unconfirmed. Without laboratory confirmation, you have a screening result only.
The Rapid Test with Laboratory Confirmation starts with the same screen. The sealed specimen then travels under chain of custody to a CAP-accredited laboratory, which confirms by LC-MS/MS and reports a measured level for each substance. The laboratory's menu covers 81 substances across 31 drug classes, and results come back in about 72 hours.
Every laboratory report goes to a Medical Review Officer (MRO), a physician who reviews laboratory-confirmed results and accounts for valid prescriptions before the report is released. That review covers the laboratory report only.
For a result that will be acted on, such as one in a custody matter, order the Rapid Test with Laboratory Confirmation. Whether that fits what your order or agreement requires is a question for your attorney or the court. A visit booked as the At-Home Rapid Test can be upgraded to laboratory confirmation in the app within 2 hours of collection, while the sealed specimen is still viable. How to read a Testr result explains the negative and presumptive positive reads and the laboratory result.
Who receives the report
Results are released privately to the account that placed the order, or to a named third party, such as an attorney, only with the account holder's written consent. With that consent, Testr releases the laboratory report directly to the person named. If your attorney or anyone else booked the visit, the results go to their account only after you sign the authorization at the visit naming them.
Apart from the account that placed the order, Testr does not send results to family members, employers, schools or insurers unless the account holder shares them, the account holder authorizes the release in writing, or the law requires it. Testr complies with a subpoena or court order, and tells the account holder first where the law allows. The collector sees the result only while the visit is under way and cannot share or download records afterwards. A small number of authorized Testr administrators can read results for support and chain of custody.
Questions people ask
What is the most common drug test for a custody case?
That depends on your matter, and the answer belongs to your attorney or the court. Every Testr visit is the same kind of collection: a non-DOT urine collection at an address within 20 miles of Century City, with a 14-panel screen read on site and optional laboratory confirmation.
Can you ask for a drug test in a custody case?
That is a legal question, and this post does not answer it. Ask your attorney or the court.
Will a court accept a Testr record?
Testr cannot answer that and makes no promise that any court will accept a result. Ask your attorney or the court what they accept.
Can my attorney book the test for me?
Yes, as a someone-else booking. You sign an authorization at the visit naming the attorney, and the results go to the attorney's account. If you decline to sign, no result is released to the attorney's account.
If I book it myself, can the report go straight to my attorney?
On a laboratory-confirmed test, yes, with your written consent: Testr releases the laboratory report directly to the attorney you name. You can also share the result with them yourself.
What if I take a prescribed medication?
You can tell the collector at the visit. Some prescribed medications can produce a positive on the rapid screen, and a screen cannot tell a prescribed drug from an unprescribed one. On a laboratory-confirmed test, the laboratory report goes to a Medical Review Officer (MRO), a physician who reviews laboratory-confirmed results and accounts for valid prescriptions before the report is released.
What happens to the record if I close my account?
Closing the account blocks sign-in, but the testing records behind it stay with Testr, so the chain of custody can still be answered for if a result is ever disputed. Download your own copy of anything you want to keep first, because you cannot reach it once the account is closed.
Questions to ask your attorney before you book
Does an order or agreement name a provider, a laboratory or a collection method, and how does it apply?
Is a non-DOT urine test what is being asked for, or a different specimen, such as hair?
Does the order call for a laboratory-confirmed result with measured levels?
Does a particular collection procedure apply? On a Testr visit the specimen is given in private.
Which substances matter? The 14 panels are listed on the 14-panel drug test page, and the laboratory menu reaches further.
Who should receive the report, and is there a date it needs to arrive by?
Attorneys booking for a client can read more on Testr for professionals. When you are ready, book a visit in the Testr app or at testrla.com/book, and a certified collector can be at an address within 20 miles of Century City in as little as 3 hours, 7 AM to 7 PM, seven days a week.