Drug Endangered Children Program

The Iowa Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy will implement their Drug Endangered Children program (DEC) which will serve children and their parents throughout the state. The DEC program is designed to break the cycle of neglect and abuse associated with substance abusing caregivers. The program will pull together resources from the criminal justice system, human services, juvenile court, and public health system to address the safety and well-being of children, and hold neglectful and abusive parents accountable. The program also assists families in obtaining substance abuse treatment and other types of family-based assistance. The program will hire a full-time DEC Coordinator who will develop model protocols and procedures, provide outreach, training and technical assistance, and assist county attorneys prosecute adults who have been charged with endangering children through drug-related activities. The project also earmarks additional substance abuse treatment resources for more intensive treatment services to adult clients of the DEC program. The program will submit categorical progress reports in GMS that will report on five (5) performance measures that include: the number of new DEC projects implemented, the number of clients receiving treatment and the percentage of clients the complete treatment.NCA/NCF