Drug Endangered Children

Iowa’s drug endangered children efforts are a coordinated response to the impact of parental substance abuse on Iowa children, who are often found to be living in deplorable conditions, neglected beyond imagination, and suffering at the hands of drug-using parents. 

It’s all about children — and the impact of drugs

The reasons for having an Iowa Drug Endangered Program are compelling, and the challenges that lie ahead are enormous. Iowa law enforcement officers continue to report finding children in locations where illegal drugs are being used, manufactured or trafficked and, in partnership with child protective workers, they remove these children from the socially and environmentally toxic environment of drug activity.

DHS workers and County Attorneys file Child In Need of Assistance (CINA) petitions and, when a child has been located at a meth lab, make referrals to hospitals that use the National DEC Medical Protocol. DEC is all about Iowa’s children and rescuing them when they are victimized by parental drug use and drug manufacturing.

Iowa's Drug Endangered Children

Iowa Department of Human Services