Frequently Asked Questions

Drug-endangered children are children who are at risk of emotional or physical harm due to living in or being affected by environments where substance misuse is present.

These children may face risks such as neglect, instability, exposure to violence, physical danger, emotional trauma, or lack of basic care. This issue affects up to 1 in 4 (over 19 million) children in the United States today.

Watch this video for more insight:

NADEC provides training, resources, and coordinated support to professionals and communities who serve drug-endangered children. We are responsible for:

• Training thousands of professionals and community members each year to identify and support at-risk children.

• Building and strengthening DEC Alliances across the country.

• Advocating for children and policy change through public appearances and government partnership.

• Delivering digital tools like CheckDEC to connect families and professionals to local services.

• Providing Crisis Bags and other trauma-reducing resources for children.

• Promoting prevention, awareness, and change efforts at the national, state, tribal and community levels.

We serve:

• Children and families affected by substance misuse.

• Professionals who interact with these children (law enforcement, child welfare, educators, medical staff, treatment providers, legal staff, community organizations, et cetera).

• Communities working to build coordinated responses through local, tribal and state DEC Alliances.

NADEC is not a direct service or investigative agency. Instead, we, as a nonprofit, work alongside law enforcement, child welfare, education, healthcare, and community partners to help them:

• Recognize when children are at risk

• Use trauma-informed strategies to limit harm and support substance use prevention

• Build strong, coordinated responses and alliances

• Share strategies and informational resources across disciplines

• Provide digital resources to connect families and professionals to local services (i.e.: CheckDEC)

We act as a national hub of training, guidance, coordination and support, strengthening the systems that protect drug-endangered children every day.

CheckDEC is a free resource app developed by NADEC to help professionals and families quickly locate local services for children and caregivers affected by substance misuse.

It connects users to:

• Treatment services

• Child and family support agencies

• Community resources

• Crisis response and prevention tools

CheckDEC can be used by anyone who wants to connect someone to help.

For more on CheckDEC, watch this video:

For media inquiries, speaking requests, or conference participation, please email us at info@nationaldec.org or submit a form from our Contact Page sharing the details.

A member of our team will connect you with the appropriate staff or leadership representative as soon as possible.