Support for licensed professionals

Start here: what we are, and what we are not

• We are not an approved provider for any licensing board or monitoring program. We do not claim approval from any board, and we are not a substitute for testing your program requires through its own vendor.
• We can work with your program’s requirements. If your program allows outside testing, we can set up a schedule and test types to match what it asks for.
• We provide chain of custody documentation when your situation calls for it.
• Confirm with your program first. Before you rely on any Blackburn test for a program requirement, check with your program or case manager that they will accept it.

Licensing board programs in California generally contract their own testing and recovery vendors, and participants are expected to use them. As one public example, the State Bar of California’s Lawyer Assistance Program says participants are typically randomly tested 12 to 36 times per year (State Bar LAP FAQ). Follow your own program’s rules first. Everything we offer is meant to sit around them, not replace them.

Why professionals use Blackburn alongside their program

Private accountability. Some professionals want testing that is for themselves: a spouse, a business partner or a sponsor who gets results, outside the formal program. You decide in writing who receives results, and no one else does.

Before a program starts, or after it ends. Some people start testing on their own while they are deciding whether to self-refer, or keep testing after a formal program ends, to keep the structure that helped. A record of consistent results can matter to the people in your life. Whether it matters to a board or employer is a question for them, not us.

A person instead of a portal. Here you have a monitoring coordinator who knows you, answers the phone and can talk through a confusing result or a scheduling problem.

Support that is not testing. A monitoring program checks whether you are using. It does not do the work of recovery for you. That is where therapy, psychiatric care and mentoring come in.

How it works

1. Call us. Tell us whether you are in a program, what it requires, and what you want from us. If your program allows outside testing, bring its requirements so we can match them.
2. Check with your program. Confirm with your program or case manager whether and how Blackburn testing can be used for your requirements.
3. Authorize who receives results. In writing. That might be your program contact, a therapist, your attorney or only you.
4. Get notified when to test. You receive electronic notices to report for random tests, by appointment at our office at 12326 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM, or at other Blackburn locations on the Westside outside those hours. Mobile testing at your home or office is available for an additional fee, which can be easier to fit around a demanding work schedule.
5. Testing and documentation. Instant urine screens for common substances such as opioids, stimulants, benzodiazepines and cannabis, breath alcohol, EtG for recent drinking, saliva on request, chain of custody documentation when needed, and partner laboratory confirmation of positive screens.

See how monitoring works and how positives are confirmed for more detail.

Medications, and alcohol in everyday products

Professionals in monitoring are often careful people who still get caught out by something ordinary. Tell us about every prescription and over-the-counter medication before you test. If you are on an alcohol biomarker test like EtG, know that incidental exposure from products such as hand sanitizer and mouthwash can produce detectable EtG (Mayo Clinic Laboratories). For clinicians who use alcohol-based hand sanitizer all day, that matters. Ask your program what it expects you to avoid and read about the EtG alcohol test.

Pilots and other DOT regulated roles

We do not perform DOT regulated testing. If your monitoring falls under federal DOT rules (49 CFR Part 40), your required testing must happen through a DOT program. We can still help with private accountability testing and with support services around your program.

Discretion and cost

Your results go only to the people you authorize in writing. We do not contact your employer, board or colleagues unless you have authorized us to.

Our monitoring is low cost. What you pay depends on test frequency, which tests you need, whether positives go to a lab for confirmation, whether you need chain of custody documentation and whether you use mobile testing. See what affects cost.

If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health or substance use crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. For free, confidential treatment referrals any time, the SAMHSA National Helpline is 1-800-662-4357.

Need more than testing?

A monitoring program measures recovery. These programs help you build it.

• Therapy and psychiatry

  Confidential therapy and psychiatric care in Los Angeles, including support for the stress that comes with a license on the line.

  Blackburn Clinical Services

• Mentoring

  One-on-one mentoring for accountability and structure, with a consistent person who helps you keep your commitments.

  Blackburn Mentoring

• Sober living

  Sober living and sober apartments in West Los Angeles, for when a structured place to live would make the next stretch easier.

  Blackburn Recovery Services

• Scholarship help

  Treatment scholarships through our nonprofit, for people who need care and cannot cover the full cost on their own.

  The Blackburn Foundation

Your monitoring coordinator can make the introduction.