Drug Endangered Children

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. Clear communication and participation with agency supervisors and signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) are usually required.

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. Familiarize yourselves with the philosophies, departmental policies, and hierarchies of your own and other team member agencies. Each team member needs answers to the following: What are Team goals? What is each member required to do when arriving at a drug scene? When encountering a child? What are team priorities in handling a case?

4. Develop protocols as a team for what should happen during an intervention at a drug-producing/trafficking home with children. First, all existing core agencies’ protocols must be gathered, reviewed, and analyzed to see: What is already in place? What needs to be changed to facilitate the Team’s work? What might impede Team goals? With buy-in/approval of each agency, the Team should then develop a unified DEC TEAM protocol.

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 (i.e. shadowing/ride-alongs, etc.). Seek additional assistance and training from relevant agencies and outside sources.

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 training.

8. Outreach to service providers to assist DEC children and families and be aware of service delivery gaps in your community. Establish additional MOUs with auxiliary agencies to better serve DEC cases and build support for multidisciplinary and comprehensive interventions.

9. Develop a locally relevant training module that DEC team members can present to non-DEC agencies and organizations for outreach and/or education 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