Tag Archives: risk

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.

Free pregnancy tests in bars an effort to curb Alaska’s FASD rates

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ARTICLE: Free pregnancy tests in bars an effort to curb Alaska’s FASD rates

By: Charlo Green, KTVA Alaska, 20 June 2014

Accessed on: 17 July 2014

Commentary by: Jeanelle Mandes

Last month, Charlo Greene published an article about approaching the prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) using a different method. The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies came up with an idea to introduce pregnancy tests in Alaskan bars. Alaska has a high rate of FASD and with this idea; they hope this technique will bring awareness to women who consume alcohol.

Janet Johnstone, with the UAA Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, believes this approach may help women to think twice when about to consume alcohol if they may be pregnant.

“If someone is drinking at a bar and they see the test, they may just think about it a little more. Also if someone takes the test and finds out they’re pregnant, that hopefully will also have an effect on their drinking,” said Johnstone.

Not only will pregnancy test dispensers be available in bars, but there will also be posters with warning messages will be put up in some restaurants and bars.

With these two methods, there will be surveys provided for women to answer questions about the warning techniques. With the gathered data, the researchers will be able to gain a picture of which system reached out to the women best.

The bars and restaurants will start seeing these by the end of the year and the researchers will expect to have the outcomes within two years.

Others may wonder if these approaches are worth the effort but in a state with a high rate of FASD, many may think any technique is better than no technique.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder experts meet in Saskatoon: Discuss ways to prevent Canadian women from drinking while pregnant

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder experts meet in Saskatoon: Discuss ways to prevent Canadian women from drinking while pregnant

By: Bre McAdam (News Talk 980 CJME), 20 Jan 2014

Accessed on: 20 Jan 2014

Commentary by: Krystal Glowatski

This week, a two-day meeting in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was held where FASD experts discussed prevention of FASD in the province.  The experts addressed what has been done in terms of FASD prevention over the past 10 years and worked on a plan for the next decade.

The Canada FASD Research Network estimates that there are 55,708 people in Saskatchewan who might have FASD.  Minister of Social Services, June Draude, states that each of those individuals cost approximately $1.5 million in terms of health care, education, and corrections.  She states that, “…more importantly it has an impact on society as a whole.  The human cost within the family, within the community and within that child.”

Jocelynn Cook, executive director of the Canada FASD Research Network, explained the need to focus on “risky drinking.”  Draude elaborated that there needs to be support for mothers and pregnant women with alcohol addictions, such as detox and providing doctors with the proper information to provide to their patients.

These suggestions come on the heels of recent reports from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that doctors do not often ask their patients about alcohol use.  The CDC states that it’s time for a change, as the risks associated with alcohol consumption can be many and in some cases, severe.  For more on that story visit: http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/alcohol-screening-counseling/

This article supports my commentary from last week, in that there’s often a heavy focus on prevention.  Don’t get me wrong, prevention, if successful, would be the best way to eventually eliminate FASD.  But there are still people in this province – approximately 55,708 people according the Canada FASD Research Network – who may be effected by this disorder and we need to include solutions to these individuals’ plights as well.

Pub pregnancy test plea to halt FASD

Pub pregnancy test plea to halt FASD

By: Julie Cush (BBC News), December 31, 2013

Accessed on: January 6, 2014

Commentary by: Krystal Glowatski

While Canada gears up to pilot an initiative where pregnancy test dispensers are installed in bar washrooms, it seems the UK is getting ready to experiment with this program as well.  The article articulates how pregnant women are bombarded with advice during pregnancy – and this is undoubtedly true.  However, the author also suggests that if you know you’re pregnant, why take the risk of harming your baby.

This back and forth reasoning in the FASD debates is nothing new.  Although, it is interesting that social awareness is moving forward despite criticism of ‘FASD’ in general in the UK in the past several years.  In June 2007, ‘PulseNews’ published an article stating the BMA was drawing a hardline on drinking during pregnancy, that there should be absolutely NO drinking while pregnant.  Dr. Trefor Roscoe stated in the article, “How far down the road of nannying are we going to go?  If alcohol really was that dangerous in pregnancy it would have been obvious years ago.  I doubt this was drawn up by GPs as GPs live in the real world.”  Moreover, in the past few years, various studies have been coming out of the UK and Denmark stating alcohol during pregnancy is not that harmful – which has produced a controversy all it’s own.

Here we are in 2014, putting pregnancy tests in public washrooms.  Are we moving towards an “FASD moral panic” or a new era of awareness and prevention?