Tag Archives: Australia

FASD and the Criminal Justice System: Transnational Research

Patrick McGee spoke with Damien Carrick on the Law Report on RN, Radio Australia, ABC News Radio on November 10, 2015 about the treatment of offenders with FASD in the Australian court system. The episode, entitled “Indigenous Prisoners and FASD” is available from the ABC RN website and offers insight into the growing awareness about FASD in the criminal justice system in Australia. The conversation is partially based on a recent study headed by Dr. Eileen Baldry (University of New South Wales) in which she found that Indigenous Australians with disabilities are often caught in the criminal justice system due to a lack of appropriate support systems. McGee asserts that the criminal justice system is ill-prepared to handle offenders with disabilities. He acknowledges that there are more effective ways of managing this issue, but that they are at the levels of intervention and diversion programs, as well as finding ways to encourage jurisdictional cooperation between disability services and the justice system. McGee points out that this is an issue that has emerged in Canada and the United States as well, but he feels that Australia has fallen behind in terms of awareness and responses. Listen to the episode at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/indigenous-prisoners/6923270#transcript.

This issue was also recently addressed within the Canadian context at a conference in Regina, Saskatchewan on November 17, 2015. A panel comprised of Saskatchewan-based professors including Michelle Stewart, Robert Henry, and Jason Demers discussed incarceration rates in Canada. Indigenous offenders and offenders with FASD were specifically discussed, as were community-based alternative options to incarceration. International awareness of the intersection of FASD and the criminal justice system is growing; however, strategies for alternative treatments and programs are broadly being developed in response. Check out the LeaderPost article “Aboriginal incarceration up 47 per cent at Canada’s federal prisons” and see for yourself (http://www.leaderpost.com/health/aboriginal+incarceration+cent+canada+federal+prisons/11384178/story.html).

Ali McCudden December 19, 2015

FASD & the Law: Free Workshop – March 2015

February Update:

This will be a pre-conference event prior to 6th International Conference on FASD called “Research: Results and Relevance 2015” that is being held March 4-7 in Vancouver B.C. The pre-conference session on FASD & the Law will feature upwards of 20 short presentations. We are currently finalizing the schedule of speakers but emerging themes currently include: justice and law, corrections and incarceration, research and training, as well as family and care providers’ perspectives on justice encounters. We will have a complete list of speakers and schedule available in late January so stay tuned. This event is free and is open to the public. We do ask that you register for the event by contacting: faslaw@uw.edu.  Please share this event with your contacts and we hope to see you in Vancouver in the Spring!  See the preliminary schedule below – and register today! Please share with contacts and check out the facebook page by clicking here.

FASD & The Law:

Continuing the Conversation about Current Research, Best Practices & Ethical Considerations

Welcome

Registration and Coffee—8:00am to 8:15am

Welcome and Opening Comments (Fia Jampolsky, Kathryn Kelly & Michelle Stewart)—8:15am to 8:30am

Session I

FASD, Mental Health & Wellness Courts—8:30am to 9:15am

·       Judge Toth (Canada), Just Do It: How to Start a FASD Court Without Resources and Actually Get Something Done

·       Suzie Kuerschner (Canada), Wellness Court & Sentencing Plans for Defendants Living with FASD

·       Kelly Rain Collins (USA), Juvenile Mental Health Court

 

FASD in the Courts—9:15am to 10:15am

·       Judge Jeffrey (USA), TBD

·       Judge Wartnik (USA), FASD: Perseveration and Being “Bored”

·       Frances Gordon (Canada), FASD and the Principles of Sentencing: A Turn in the Road since R v Charlie

·       Magistrate Crawford (Australia), TBD

BREAK—10:15am to 10:30am
Thinking with Families and Youth about FASD and the Law—10:30 to 11:15am

·       Dorothy Reid, Canada FASD Research Network (Canada), Don’t Forget About Us: A Family’s Perspective on FASD and the Law

·       Dr. Lori Cox (Canada), The Nogemag Healing Lodge: Working with Youth and Families with FASD

·       Kee Warner & Deb Evenson (Canada), Not The Same Old Kettle of Fish: Communicating for Comprehension

 

Discussion Session One: Ethical Considerations—11:15am to 12:00pm
Presentation:

Dr. Amy Salmon (Canada), Engaging the Criminal-Legal System in FASD Prevention: Current Debates and Implications for Reproductive Justice

Audience and Panelists Discussion Hosted by: Fia Jampolsky

·       Emerging & best practices regarding FASD in the legal system

·       Ethical issues raised in these practices and possible remedies

 

LUNCH—12:00pm to 1:00pm

SESSION II

 

Youth Interventions—1:00pm to 2:00pm

·       Dr. Christina Chambers (USA), Screening for FASD among Juvenile Detainees in San Diego
·       Dr. Maya Peled (Canada), Breaking Through the Barriers: Supporting Youth with FASD Who had Substance Abuse Challenges

·       Dr. Steven Youngentob (USA), Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: The Role of Chemosensory Fetal Programming in Adolescent Alcohol and Nicotine Acceptance.

·       Richard Willier (Canada), FASD and Youth Diversions
Education and Justice Outreach—2:00pm to 2:30pm
· ·       Heather Jones (Australia) Developing FASD Educational Interventions for Justice Professionals

·       Dr. Michelle Stewart (Canada) Managing Expectations: Frontline Police Perspectives and the Limits of FASD Training

 

BREAK—2:30pm to 2:45pm

 

Discussion Session Two: Prevalence—2:45pm to 3:30pm

Presentation:

Dr. Kaitlyn McLaughlin (Canada), TBD

Discussion Host: Kathryn Kelly

·       What is at stake in prevalence studies?

·       What are some of the practices being used to establish prevalence?

Assessment and Assistance—3:30pm to 4:00pm
·       Betty Lou Benson (Canada) TBD

·       Lisa Bunton, (Canada), Providing Services to Offenders with FASD: Challenges and Successes (pending approval)

Discussion Session Three: Looking to the Future—4:00pm to 4:30pm

Audience and Panelists Discussion Hosted by: Michelle Stewart
·       What is on the horizon in the fields of FASD & the Law?

·       What are the research needs in these fields?

*Note: this is a preliminary schedule and is subject to change. Registration required. Contact faslaw@uw.edu.

Roseanne Fulton free on bail after assault

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ARTICLE: Roseanne Fulton free on bail after assault

Yahoo! 7 News, 11 July 2014

Accessed on: 18 July 2014

Commentary by: Jeanelle Mandes

Rosie Fulton, from Alice Springs – the largest town in the Northern Territory in Australia, was incarcerated in an Australian prison for crashing a stolen vehicle.

She “was deemed unfit to stand trial because she has fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD) and the mental age of a young child.”

Although it doesn’t specify if her FASD diagnosis was addressed or not, it makes you wonder about issues of vulnerability those with FASD face when it comes to crime.

According to a FASD online fact sheet, “People with FASD generally have problems understanding abstract concepts such as money or law. Theft of money is different to a person who is able to understand the value of money.”

“This difficulty with abstraction means that many persons with FASD cannot adequately imagine or consider the future. This places them at risk during stages of court processing, such as plea-bargaining, sentencing or a parole hearing, not to mention in their everyday life.

“FASD also increases vulnerability to manipulation and coercion because they want to please those they perceive to be in positions of authority.”

After reviewing the fact sheet and the news source, it indicates how some people with FASD can be easily intimidated by others. It’s unfortunate society takes advantage of those who have FASD looking at them as puppets on a string.

In situations such as Rosie Fulton, it is such a sad reality that she was sent to a prison because the Australian legal system didn’t have a place for her that met her needs. But there are people like the 120,000 who signed a petition to free Fulton that show the support and understanding of FASD.

 

Click here to see a CBC video called “Justice for people with FASD who commit crimes”.

Lives and crimes: Kids who suffer foetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Lives and crimes: Kids who suffer foetal alcohol spectrum disorder

By: Patrick Begley, The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 Feb 2014

Accessed on: 20 Feb 2014

Commentary by: Krystal Glowatski

While this article is focused on FASD in the Australian context, the author does an excellent job of outlining some of the issues FASD presents for clients and professionals in the justice system.

Australian FASD experts have claimed their country is about 20 years behind Canada in the recognition of FASD.  Many justice professionals still are not aware of the disorder or how it impacts the justice system experience.  This is a timely piece, as we are soon hosting a workshop targeted toward helping front-line workers (i.e., justice professionals, social workers, and those who work in community-based organizations) strategize effective ways to work with clients who have FASD and available resources to proceed with this work.

Some of the issues associated with FASD, as outlined in this article are: lack of patience, impulsivity, issues with memory/event recall, and short attention span.  Consequently, this may result in repeatedly breaking the law, lack of understanding action and consequence, false confessions, and the possibility of easy manipulation.

The author of this article points out a number of times that FASD is indeed brain damage – something that doesn’t seem to be expounded on nearly enough in my opinion.  Let me say it again, FASD is a brain injury.  This means that while some people display the physical attributes associated to the disorder (such as small stature, small eyes, a thin top lip, etc.), many individuals with FASD do not present at all.  However, this doesn’t mean they don’t suffer in terms of mental abilities.  If someone is in an accident and suffers an ABI (acquired brain injury), you can see how they may be affected by the injury cognitively and behaviorally.  It is the same with individuals who have FASD – they essentially have a brain injury – it’s just that the brain was injured during prenatal development.

The author also refers to FASD as “the hidden harm.”  In other words, this disorder may often be mistaken for other disorders such as autism or ADD.  I know from speaking with professionals in the field that misdiagnosing FASD is perhaps one of the worst things that could happen to the individual with FASD.  The treatment and practices surrounding FASD are much different than those associated to autism or attention deficit disorders, and could actually be harmful to the individual who has been misdiagnosed.  Furthermore, a misdiagnosis may mean the individual never receives an accurate diagnosis.

Australia has set aside government funds to approach FASD, however, as this article discusses, it’s unclear how they are going to go about using the funds.  Some say there’s too much focus on prevention (something I believe I have stated in previous blog posts on this site), and not enough allocation or attention to those who already have FASD – we cannot forget about these individuals.

While this has been a lengthy post, I really encourage you to read the article itself.  The author, along with the subject matter experts, have done a wonderful job of summarizing the impacts of FASD on the justice system – both for justice professionals and for the clients who are affected by FASD.

TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THE SENATE: The disability Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is not recognised by the federal government as a disability. This creates difficulties for families living with FASD with state and federal services

TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THE SENATE: The disability Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is not recognised by the federal government as a disability. This creates difficulties for families living with FASD with state and federal services

Petition by
 Anne Russell of the Russell Family Fetal Alcohol Disorders Association (Accessed on December 14th)

Commentary by Shauna Makie

Anne Russell of the Russell Family Fetal Alcohol Disorders Association in Australia has started a petition for the Speaker and Members of the Senate to recognize FASD as a federally recognized disability. Russell approaches the dilemma by having readers recognize the challenges that often go unseen for those individuals living with FASD. “Their days are spent trying to make sense of what is happening to them, rather than learning from their experiences” Russell declares, and that their cognitive disability goes masked by other social systems such as the welfare, employment, mental health, drug and alcohol, prison, and disability services as a result of their undiagnosed disability. Although some organizations do recognize FASD as a considerable cognitive disability that qualifies for certain programming, the Federal Government does not include it as a disability.

In Canada, particularly in Saskatchewan, FASD is recognized as a disability. However, the ambiguity of FASD as a disability is found in the process of diagnosis—or lack there of. Saskatchewan, and other provinces often suffer both financially and resourcefully in allocating services to attain an FASD diagnosis in order to qualify for appropriate programming. As Russell identified, without the government investing directly into understanding and diagnosing FASD, these individuals are placed in insufficient programs that lead to further suffering elongating the forging of secondary disabilities.

 

Concerns over FASD funding review

Concerns over FASD funding review

Concerns over FASD funding review

By Heather Meagher, SBS News (October 15th, 2013) (Accessed: October 17th, 2013)

Commentary by Krystal Glowatski

This article addresses the need for FASD funding in Australia.  Previously, 20 million dollars was pledged to FASD by the Australian government, however it is unclear by this article if that money is for research, prevention, or support.  What is clear is that FASD is a major issue in Australia.  The funds that were previously set aside for FASD is now in jeopardy under the new government.

The article points out that, “…half of pregnancies are unplanned and with women binge-drinking more than ever, advocates say this funding is crucial.”  Alcohol abuse, and subsequently, FASD have become hot topics in Australia.  Currently a prevalence research study is being conducted in Fitzroy Crossing called “Marulu: The Lililwan Project”  (See: http://depts.washington.edu/fmffasd/fitzroy-valley for more information).  While alcohol use has been surrounded by research and debate, the rates of FASD in Australian communities is still largely unknown.

What we do know is the range of effects FASD can have on an individual who was exposed to alcohol in utero.  The young woman, Morgan, interviewed in this article has FASD and experiences struggles such as cognitive functioning (problems remembering and understanding) and behavioural issues such as frustration and anger.  While this young woman experiences such inflictions and has shown bravery in publicly discussing her disorder, many others in Australia and indeed, around the world, perhaps don’t even understand that they too are affected by FASD.  Funding is certainly needed to help those: 1) who are dealing with FASD daily, such as Morgan, 2) who don’t yet know what they’re dealing with, in determining a diagnosis, and 3) who are not born yet but have the potential to be effected by FASD.

To hear a recent interview with Morgan about her experience with FASD, see:

http://www.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/watchonline/581/Drinking-When-Pregnant