The Child Development - Community Policing Program—sometimes called the CD-CP Program—is designed to heal the wounds that chronic exposure to violence inflicts on children and families.

The CD-CP Program is a national model of collaborative alliance among law enforcement, juvenile justice, domestic violence, medical, and mental-health professionals; schools; and child welfare and other community agencies. The program focuses on developing prompt and effective ways to help children and families exposed to violence, as well as to better understand the relationship between a child’s exposure to violence and traumatic stress symptoms. (For more information on the overall effort, viewers may visit the Web site of the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence.)

The Wilmington, Delaware, CD-CP Program represents a partnership between the City of Wilmington’s Police Department and the Division of Child Mental Health Services within the State of Delaware’s Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families. The division contracts with the Diakon Brandywine Program to provide mental health treatment for identified children. 

With three full-time masters’ level therapists devoted to the program, clinicians are on-call during the evening and weekends. These staff members contact families who have provided consent, explain the program, and offer short-term counseling for children. The CD-CP clinicians may also help secure other social services or longer-term counseling of benefit to the child and family.

Any child 17 years of age or younger who lives within the city limits of Wilmington or is exposed to a violent or traumatic event while within the city limits of Wilmington is eligible for services. Children who are victims, witnesses, or perpetrators of violence or trauma are eligible for CD-CP services, for which there is no charge. Health insurance is not a factor in determining eligibility. 

CD-CP provides the following services to clients:

• Acute responses to crime scenes at which children are present.
• Initial assessment to determine level of intervention needed.
• Mobile, short-term, intensive intervention for children and their families.
• Referrals for longer-term, outpatient therapy and other mental health or social services as needed.

In instances of severe neglect or child abuse, it is required that a report first be made to the Division of Family Services’ 24-hour report line at 1-800-292-9582.

Child Development - Community Policing Program clinicians can be reached at (302) 576-3183. If a clinician is not available and an immediate response is not required, you may leave a message with general referral information and a clinician will return your call promptly.

Because CD-CP is a voluntary program, parental permission is required for service. If you are interested in referring a child for these services, we ask that you attempt to obtain consent from the parent prior to making a referral. For emergencies, please dial 911 and the Wilmington police department can contact on-call clinicians as necessary. 

For youths in need of similar services outside of the City of Wilmington, a call may be made to the Division of Child Mental Health Services’ central intake/crisis hotline at (302) 633-5128 or, toll-free, at 1-800-722-7710.