Drug Endangered Children - Hiding in Plain Sight
This week the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (National DEC) is highlighting efforts around the country to raise awareness about the plight of children who are at risk because of their caregiver's involvement with drug activity or substance abuse. These are drug endangered children and the fourth Wednesday of April is designated each year as Drug Endangered Children Awareness Day. On April 27
th
, communities across the nation participated in events to shed light on the plight
of drug endangered children. These children usually go to school, the grocery store, the playground, and many other public places. But they truly are hiding in plain sight because the burdens they bare and the trauma they've experienced often go unrecognized.
Raising awareness about these quiet victims is the first step to being able to make a difference in their lives and that is the DEC mission.
Too Many Teddy Bears?
How can you have too many Teddy Bears? It's too many when each one represents a child who is born exposed to drugs. That was the case this week in Topeka, Kansas when for DEC Awareness Day, the Kansas DEC Alliance set up 257 stuffed animals representing the number of infants born each year in just that county who are drug
exposed. This was a visual reminder that far too many children are born exposed to drugs. These youngest of drug endangered children may be starting out in life with one strike against them and statewide in Kansas,
more than 4,600 infants are born exposed.
Participants in the event included law enforcement, judges, medical personnel, and other professionals. Their message was clear - we need to not only help the children who are born exposed, but prevent more children from having to deal with substance withdrawal as soon as they are born.
Kansas DEC will be giving away the stuffed animals as part of the Topeka Zoo's Safe Kids Day this Saturday. Here is a link to this story from WIBW Channel 13 in Topeka.
Why Do Drug Endangered Children Need Backpacks?
The folks in Eau Claire County Wisconsin can tell you why - they participated in DEC Awareness Day by volunteering their time to fill backpacks with things a child needs when removed from a drug environment. The child's clothes and toys may be contaminated with drug residue, so the Eau Claire County DEC Alliance has a program designed to make sure that a child removed from a drug environment immediately receives a backpack with clean clothes, toiletries, toys, blankets, and educational supplies. These items provide comfort as well as necessities and can reduce the trauma these children experience when rescued from drug environments.
The Eau Claire DEC team was joined by volunteer residents of the Willowbrook Assisted Living Facility and Communications and Journalism students from the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire. Together they stuffed 51 backpacks which will all be given to children who are experiencing a significant disruption in their home life and routine. The items put into the backpacks come from generous donations from individuals and businesses in the Eau Claire area.
When the Eau Claire County Department of Human Services has to remove a child from a drug environment during emergency situations, the agency doesn't have a ready supply of items that these children need. Thanks to the Eau Claire DEC Program, the Department expects to provide comforting backpacks to more than 150 children displaced from their homes in the coming year. Here's a link to the story:
