Episode 295 | Just All Hands On DECK for Drug Endangered Youth

Original Release Date: August 2, 2024  

In episode seven of our Community-based Solutions for Substance Use Challenges season, Just Science sits down with Cristi Cain, Local Public Health Section Director at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and Sally Wright, the All Hands on DECK, or Drug Endangered Children Kansas, Program Manager for the Kansas Department of Health & Environment, to discuss their COSSUP-funded All Hands on DECK Program, which helps support drug endangered youth and families across the state of Kansas.

In Kansas and across the country, many children and infants are living in an environment where a caretaker uses substances or where they are born exposed to substances. In response, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment supports eighteen local jurisdictions who are implementing a range of activities to support drug endangered youth, including providing family care bags, administering community and school-based drug awareness trainings, distributing naloxone, and more. Listen along as Sally and Cristi discuss some of the catalysts for creating a youth-focused program in their state, how each local site is identifying and addressing unique needs within their community, and some of the challenges and successes the DECK program has experienced so far.

This Just Science season is supported, in part, by RTI Award No. 15PNIJ-21-GK-02192-MUMU, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, and by RTI Award No. 15PBJA-23-GK-02250-COAP, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Both are agencies within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this podcast season do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.

Before she was employed at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Cristi Cain worked for a local nonprofit focused on addressing methamphetamine use. After attending a National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children conference, she pivoted and has been working on initiatives to support Drug Endangered Youth ever since. Cristi now works as Local Public Health Section Director at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and project coordinator for the COSSUP grant. 

Sally Wright is currently the All Hands on DECK (Drug Endangered Children Kansas) Program Manager for the Kansas Department of Health & Environment. Sally has spent much of her career (21 years) working with families in Topeka, Kansas through Parents as Teachers, CASA (Citizen Review Board), and the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center. Sally has been very instrumental in developing new programing within the listed organizations and has a public relations degree from Kansas State University.