Starting a DEC team in your county
WV DEC's approach for addressing the needs of children in dangerous drug environments is based on a multi-disciplinary approach. It requires a multi-faceted strategy that includes prevention, law enforcement, courts, probation, social services, treatment, mental health, medical, child welfare, education, public health, federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and the community.
Our solution focuses on the formation of community-based partnerships that encourage agency personnel from across these disciplines to coordinate their mutual interests, resources and responsibilities. We advocate intervention on behalf of these innocent victims and support state services and local communities by helping to develop efficient and effective strategies and tools that better leverage existing resources.
Getting Started:
10 Steps to develop a DEC Program
1. Consider possible team members from each CORE agency in your locality: Child Protective Services, Prosecutor’s Office, Law Enforcement, and Medical Personnel. Find individuals who are interested in child endangerment and illicit drug manufacturing and/or trafficking and like multidisciplinary work.
2. Schedule regular times for team meetings and decide how you will all communicate (i.e. email, phone, faxes, interoffice mail, etc.) Consistently structured meetings are initially needed to develop a team cohesion and establish working relationships.
3. Hold regular meetings. Cross-train among team members so each member has a clear sense of what other team members from different disciplines do.
4. Develop protocols as a team for what should happen during an intervention at a drug-producing/trafficking home with children.
5. Distribute draft protocols among agency colleagues for input/feedback. Revise protocols with reviews and comments. Re-review FINAL DRAFT protocol with all relevant agencies. Finalize protocol with approval by Core Team member agencies. Publish the protocol with a date and caveat that it will be modified as experience and circumstances demonstrate the need to do so.
6. Identify Team member needs for additional formal and informal training.
7. Identify key “auxiliary” agencies that your Team wants involved in DEC cases that need DEC training. These may include medical/health care providers, mental health providers, fire personnel, Emergency Medical Services, Hazardous Materials team staff, foster parents, probation/parole officers, school personnel, drug treatment providers, domestic violence service providers, criminal and juvenile court personnel. Meet with identified parties to explain DEC and schedule and provide trainings.
8. Outreach to service providers to assist DEC children and families and be aware of service delivery gaps in your community.
9. Develop a locally relevant training module that DEC team members can present to non-DEC agencies and organizations for outreach and/or educational at the local level to build community support for DEC Team work and to assist in prevention efforts.
10. Develop a way to monitor the progress of your program, the effectiveness of your protocols, and intermittently discuss how the DEC process can be improved. Discuss what is working well and provide praise. Look at what isn’t working and make necessary adjustments. Good Luck!
Source: Drug Endangered Children Resource Center, 2001