Drug-endangered children need a collaborative community response

The United States is facing an epidemic of the use of methamphetamine drugs. Child welfare has not yet addressed the needs of the children living in so-called "meth homes." These children are endangered not only from the chemicals involved, but also from parental abuse and neglect. Communities are recognizing the need for interagency collaboration to address the consequences of this epidemic. Spokane, Washington, has created a Drug-Endangered Children Project, whose mission is to implement a collaborative response among law enforcement, prosecutorial, medical, and social service professionals to the needs of drug-endangered children. This article presents the findings from the evaluation of the first year of the project, including a baseline assessment of the needs of drug-endangered children and the extent of community-based collaboration achieved. This article makes recommendations for future community-based partnerships to improve the well-being of drug-endangered children.