My lawyer went with the angle that he was a drug addict for such a long time that there wasn't a comparable amount of sober time to be considered out of danger. The key phrase he brought up, over and over again, was.... just because he's sober today, gives no guarantee for tomorrow or the next day, or even 2 minutes from now. The court agreed with him. Xabf had been using since he was 13 years old.... heroine, cocaine, meth, etc. but mostly heroine. We used any and all evidence I had accumulated over the years. I had police reports, medical reports, bank statements, dates for everything, etc. In the long run, the court also felt that his limited time of sobriety didn't hold a candle to the level of addiction he had over such a long amount of time. Also, the fact that he had relapsed so many times in the past just helped us to gain control.
The first thing I did was ask for EVERYTHING to be supervised. For him to be involved in parent training classes, a drug program through the courts, a limited amount of exposure, etc. So, he first went to a parenting program that supervised the visits for one hour per week. Then he went into supervised by his brother and sister for 4 hours per week.
It took a long time for me to have even the slightest bit of trust for him with our son. I still don't completely trust him. And, I still have issues with alot of the things he does. But, I'm so detached from the situation that I really have no knowledge as to what his personal life is like. I choose to stay out of those things. My lawyer really put it in perspective for me. Alot about not being able to control every aspect of everything..... hmmmmm..... wonder if he ever went to al-anon!?!? LOL!