The first Arizona Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Tribal Training Program was held on January 28-29, 2009 at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort and Casino. The Workshop, a collaborative effort by the Governor’s Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation brought together over 150 tribal representatives from 14 tribal communities in Arizona. Participants heard presentations from and participated in discussions and table top exercises with a multidisciplinary group of national, state and tribal representatives involved with DEC to gain the tools needed to create protocols to ensure the safety and protection of children.

The Arizona DEC Alliance Training Team provides day-long Training of the Trainers DEC Workshops for communities, both tribal and non-tribal.  Since the January Workshop, the Training Team has provided employees of the Gila River Indian Community, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Yavapai-Apache Nation with multi-disciplinary DEC training.  This training was mandatory for all disciplines that could encounter DEC and was a tremendous success.  Technical assistance and training are ongoing and are available to tribal and non-tribal communities throughout the state.