At this year's annual statewide Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Conference in Appleton last week, the Wisconsin Alliance for Drug Endangered Children recognized six counties and three tribes for their efforts in organizing and developing community programs to respond to the needs of drug endangered children.
Drug endangered children are those children who suffer physical or psychological harm or neglect resulting either from exposure to illegal drugs or persons under the influence of illegal drugs, or from exposure to dangerous environments where drugs are being manufactured. In Wisconsin, individual Drug Endangered Children programs are often formed at the county level.
Counties recognized this year included: Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Marquette, Pierce and St. Croix. Tribes recognized included: Red Cliff, St. Croix Chippewas of Wisconsin and the Sokaogon Chippewa.
In addition, Graebel Companies of Wausau was recognized for the school supplies that they donated to the DEC back pack program. Stanley Prison's SCOPE program also received special recognition. The SCOPE program is an initiative where DEC donates the material, and the prisoners make blankets, toys, hats and mittens for the DEC backpacks.
A representative of each county and tribal DEC program was at the conference to receive a plaque recognizing the establishment of the program.
On behalf of the Wisconsin DEC Alliance, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, Corrections Secretary Rick Raemisch, United States Attorney Erik Peterson, Dennis Schuh of the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance and Kim Eithun-Harshner of the Department of Children and Families presented the plaques.
A DEC program is a multi-disciplinary team often comprised of members from law enforcement, human services, prosecutors, the medical community, the health department, and probation and parole. Other participants may include schools, treatment centers, non-profit groups, faith-based organizations and community members.
Through the DEC program, organizations within a community work together to enhance their response to the immediate needs of drug endangered children and to gather adequate evidence to substantiate prosecution of appropriate endangerment and other charges. Each county is unique, and specific regional needs and available resources influence the type of DEC program each county implements.
The DEC initiative in Wisconsin began in November 2004, when a multi-disciplinary focus group met to discuss the national DEC program. A statewide steering committee was formed with approximately 20 members from various disciplines. In 2005, members of the national DEC alliance provided basic DEC training for approximately 600 people in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Alliance provide guidance to counties in the development of their DEC programs, sponsors an annual statewide DEC conference, and has developed a website for use as a DEC resource. For further information about the Wisconsin DEC Alliance, visit http://www.wisconsindec.org.
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