NCJ Number
234523
Date Published
May 2011
Length
27 pages
Annotation
The DEC (Drug Endangered Children) Task Force Federal Partnerships Subcommittee conducted an assessment of promising practices in the field and of training modules provided by Federal, State, local, tribal, and community-based providers across the country; this toolkit is a compilation of many of those practices.
Abstract
The objective of this toolkit is to provide guidance and resources to professionals that will assist them in identifying, responding to, and serving drug endangered children. The promising practices are presented under three categories: increasing DEC awareness, fostering community collaboration, and creating a more effective response. Creating awareness includes training professionals within the community who may encounter drug endangered children and should know who to notify when they suspect a child is at risk in or exposed to an environment where drugs are used, trafficked, or manufactured. Collaboration is critical to creating a unified response and more successful outcomes. This follows from increasing community awareness of the need to identify children exposed to drug-related environments. Once a DEC team has been established, team members should be trained in the procedures for responding to situations in which drug endangered children may be present. For each practice presented in the aforementioned areas, the toolkit provides information about the practice ("what is working"), information about how this practice can be helpful ("why it works"), and information and other resources to assist practitioners in implementing the practice in a local community ("how to get started").