Recognizing the extraordinary dangers that meth labs pose to children, California officials pioneered special strategies to address these dangers. Taken together, these strategies have come to be known as "drug endangered children" or "DEC" programs.
The critical component of any DEC program is close collaboration among government agencies. Ideally, law enforcement agencies at the state and federal levels and child protection agencies in every jurisdiction should establish protocols for their collaboration and for documenting conditions of child endangerment when a laboratory is seized. Victim service providers, public health and medical professionals, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, child protection workers, and judges must understand the special needs of meth's youngest victims.
Personnel involved in laboratory seizures should include or have ready access to qualified professionals who can respond to the immediate and potential health needs of the children present at these sites. Actions should include taking children into protective custody, arranging for toxicologic urinalysis for methamphetamine and other drugs, conducting comprehensive medical and mental health assessments, and ensuring short- and long-term care and follow-up with a pediatrician.
Although the state of California pioneered drug endangered children programs, states such as Washington and Idaho have followed suit with their own DEC programs. The state of Illinois took an important step in this direction in late 2003 when two key agencies – the State Police (ISP) and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) – signed off on a general protocol for dealing with children endangered by meth labs. Under the auspices of a grant from the federal COPS program to the Illinois State Police, the ISP, DCFS, and other agencies are now working out the details of their collaboration and designing training programs for ISP and DCFS personnel.
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