Implementing a DEC Program
The primary goal of a community DEC program is to pull together resources from participating agencies to help children living in drug endangered environments. Before the drug endangered child has even been identified, DEC program members agree on a Memorandum of Understanding and establish protocols to ensure a smooth transition from identification to the child’s rescue and support to ultimate release back to the child’s family or placement in foster care.
Implementing Checklist
- Make the Call. WIDEC encourages anyone who is interested in forming/implementing a DEC program in their community to contact us. Coordinators from WIDEC and other members from our steering committee are willing to discuss the following steps in more detail. WIDEC assists DEC programs in their initial steps and provides on-going mentorship to encourage independent community programs.
- Gather Members. When forming a DEC program it is important to obtain the cooperation and support of the leadership of all disciplines involved. Program members include, but are not limited to, dedicated workers in the following fields:
- Children Protective Services/ Indian Child Welfare
- Department of Corrections
- Law Enforcement
- Departments of Health
- Educators
- Mental Health
- District Attorneys/Judges
- Victim Witness Coordinators
- Other Governmental Agencies
- Community Members
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Faith-based Agencies
- Sign Memorandum of Understanding. Once the program members are established, all should sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to recognize and organize individual roles and responsibilities during each phase of interaction with the drug endangered child(ren). These signatures also confirm a members’ dedication to the DEC program and its end goal: to make children safe.
- Write Protocols. Establishing protocols provides a breakdown and clarification of tasks in order to avoid repetition of assignments and confusion for the identified drug endangered child’s process. For examples of MOUs or what to include in protocols, select the contact person from a particular community on the Find My DEC Program page or contact the Statewide DEC Coordinator.
- Refine the Program. Constant analysis of protocols, how they are applied to DEC cases and how program members respond. Contact WIDEC for continued support.
DEC in Indian country
Initial NADGI/WIDEC Training & Indian County DEC Program
Conference highlights included an overview and awareness of DEC, case identification, child protective service referrals, medical information on DEC, unborn child exposures, victim/witness identification and processes, prosecution, corrections, family reunification.
In April, 2008 the Native American Drug and Gang Initiative (NADGI) and WIDEC conducted the first training with all eleven tribes in Wisconsin on drug endangered children issues and efforts. The goal was for participants to not only share the information with co-workers and family/ community members, but also to have the fundamental knowledge-base to begin assembling members in order to implement DEC programs in their areas. In June, 2008 tribes sent representatives from various professions to a follow-up training to begin the process of drafting protocols and memoranda of understanding.
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The Indian Country Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Program was established to address problems associated with methamphetamine production and trafficking in homes with children present through a coordinated response by local law enforcement, social services and medical personnel. While meth may still be an issue, each of the four tribes that have DEC programs each have different priorities.
The Indian Country DEC Program is guided by and promotes the following values:
Safety: We will relentlessly pursue the end of drug abuse to prevent children from experiencing the physical, emotional, and psychological damage that exposure to drug environments cause. We will enhance the safety of children by removing them from dangerous drug environments and providing them with appropriate follow-up care and services. We will return or place children in family environments that are completely free of dangerous drugs.
Collaboration: We will insist on the participation of everyone to actively pursue the end of social tolerance to the abuse of dangerous drugs. We will form alliances, partnerships, and organizations across all government and private services to ensure appropriate tools and resources exist to identify, remove, and treat children in dangerous drug environments. We will identify and implement multidisciplinary services and strategies necessary to break the cycle of drug abuse.
Dedication: We will hold ourselves accountable to appropriately provide the services necessary to accomplish the mission of the Indian Country DEC Program. We will vigorously pursue the institutionalization of the Indian Country DEC Program. We will continually evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts to ensure the Indian Country DEC Program's mission is achieved.