For Immediate Release
Date: January 6, 2022
Contacts: Scott Henderson, National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (408) 722-8838: Scott Allen, Operation 2 Save Lives-QRT National, (508) 208-2244
The National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (National DEC) and Operation 2 Save Lives-QRT National (O2S & QRT National) are excited to announce their partnership to offer programs, train, equip and support multidisciplinary teams of professionals to provide services to children and families affected by a parent or caregiver substance misuse. The organizations’ approaches are to identify children as early as possible, intervene appropriately, and secure services for children and families, seeing that these services are sustained. Drug Endangered Children are children who are at risk of suffering physical, mental, or emotional harm because of parent or caregiver’s legal or illegal substance misuse. They may also be children whose caretaker’s legal or illegal substance use interferes with the caretaker’s ability to parent and provide a safe and nurturing environment.
Drug Endangered Children issues are critical because:
- Approximately 9.5 million children are living in an environment where substances are misused
- Children whose parents misuse substances are 3 times more likely to be physically abused and 4 times more likely to be neglected
- Children of parents with substance use disorders have a higher likelihood of developing substance use problems themselves and may be affected by:
- prenatal exposure, environmental chaos, lack of supervision, lack of necessities, violence & domestic violence, overlay deaths, loss, ingestion and exposure, human/sex trafficking
‘We look forward to working in collaboration with O2SL & QRT National to develop multidisciplinary teams, collect and share data, offer comprehensive training and programs, and develop peer-to-peer sharing. Working in an un-siloed environment of sharing and communication can change the trajectory of children’s and family’s lives. That is how we break the generational cycle of substance misuse.’ shares Scott Henderson, Executive Director for National DEC.
O2SL & QRT National provide a collaborative solution to addressing behavioral health issues through shared, community responses. O2SL & QRT National were built upon the advocacy of Public Safety executives Scott Allen, Michael Botieri, and Daniel Meloy, who gained national recognition because they innovated in creating public safety and public health national mentor site programs that address the opioid, polysubstance use, and mental health disorder crises.
Their advocacy to help vulnerable populations is based on collaborative partnerships between law enforcement, fire, and EMS agencies, public and behavioral health, and community organizations all working together to connect vulnerable populations, their family members, and loved ones to treatment, recovery, and support services.
” We are excited to partner with the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, as they share our foundational principle of working collaboratively to help communities’ most vulnerable persons. We have learned through our shared community health response initiatives that we must take holistic approaches to work with community’s priority needs, while always being vigilant to support and address the needs of the children who witness and/or are endangered by these issues”, Scott Allen, Chief Operating Officer, Operating 2 Save Lives & QRT National.
For more information about our organizations, programs, and training visit:
www.nationaldec.org www.checkdec.org www.o2sl.com
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