It is so fun watching children learn: It’s innocence in action.  I remember when my niece was two years old and I was carrying her through a store when something caught her eye.  As she started to reach for the object, I pulled her back and asked what she was doing.  With no hesitation she said, “I want to see that with my hands.”  I laughed aloud, not because she was mixing up her senses, but more at the truth of her statement.  We’ve all been there.  How many times have you said, “Let me see that,” when you really mean, “Let me touch it?”  I’ve always been that way.  The more senses I use, the more I understand something.

Someone once asked me, “What is it about the drug endangered children efforts that mobilize people?”  I replied, “Your senses.”  In this response, I didn’t mean common sense. But rather the smell, sight, laughter, touch and a smile that we know should be a part of every childhood, but isn’t.  Once you’re aware of this fact, regardless of which profession you are in, it’s like you’re infected by the drug endangered children (DEC) virus. There’s no turning back.  You now have knowledge you can never ignore again.  Not acting would be a violation of everything you know in your heart, soul and mind.

That is why the drug endangered children efforts have survived over the last decade and continues to grow stronger every year.  We can feel it now that we see it.  A true grassroots movement, built on passion to do the right thing, knowing we can never go back.  

It’s only March and 2008 is already proving to be an exciting year for the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (NADEC).  Positive energy can be felt everywhere.  Working groups, made up of professionals representing a variety of disciplines from across the nation, are in full swing.  Each work group has been putting together plans that include developing tools to support state and local DEC efforts. 

Additionally, NADEC is in the process of developing a fully functioning National DEC Resource Center.  This will include an updated web site with resource materials and a library of user generated content.  State DEC Alliances are also assessing their needs to improve their support to local community efforts.  Practitioners in the field are finding ways to respond more effectively to the needs of these children every day.  With these efforts, we are determined to break the cycle of abuse and neglect.  Now I am talking common sense.

--Commander Lori Moriarty (Retired), Executive Director