Tag Archives: Saskatchewan

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

News Coverage – FASD at the Frontline: Dialogue and Strategies for New Outcomes

News Coverage – FASD at the Frontline: Dialogue and Strategies for New Outcomes

Alas – the training and workshop are done and I have a moment to write a blog! Let me begin by saying thank you to everyone who made the FASD events possible – the presenters, the University of Regina President Vianne Timmons, the Honourable Minister June Draude, the volunteers, and certainly not least, the participants. It’s the frontline workers who listened, absorbed, and now carry the messages that were sent during these events.

We’ve had incredible feedback about strategies that were never considered and local resources that were unknown. One of my favourite comments was along the lines of, “It’s nice to know other people are going through the same struggles as I am.” I hope the events held at the University of Regina on April 22 and 23 opened doors for those of you who attended. Frontline workers now have a little bit more in their toolkit to help themselves and each other in their daily work with clients that have FASD.

We are in the beginning stages of sorting through material – surveys, student notes, breakout session materials, and tabletop discussions. We will be aggregating this material, along with local resources, and speaker presentations to create a final report. This report will hopefully provide you with another avenue of resources, tools, and contacts that will assist you in working with individuals with an FASD.

Please feel free to email us at: fasd.research.project@uregina.ca. We’d love to hear your feedback, comments, questions, and concerns about the training, the FASD public event, and the workshop. We would like to build in a section of participant reflections in the final report, and your comments would help!

Click here for video coverage of the workshop, as well as an interview with Cheryl Charron from the Regina Community Clinic.

To read an interview with Dr. Michelle Stewart about the FASD events and her research, click here.

– Krystal Glowatski

Helping young adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities: IRCM ethics experts study the transition from paediatric to adult health care services

Helping young adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities: IRCM ethics experts study the transition from paediatric to adult health care services

By: CNW: A PR NEWSWIRE COMPANY, 3 Feb 2014

Accessed on: 3 Feb 2014

Commentary by: Krystal Glowatski

I am posting a second news blog this week.  I think it’s a timely piece to complement the interview on Regina Community Radio 91.3 FM CJTR, Listen Up program that aired live on Tuesday, February 4.  While Cheryl Charron and Karen Cooper of the Regina Community Clinic touched on a broad range of topics relating to FASD, they are indeed a health clinic, likely helping clients face challenges such as the ones in this article.

Those of you who work in FASD client services and support sectors will be interested to read this.  I know from speaking with professionals working with FASD clients, that the transition from child/youth to adult status is difficult for clients in many regards, such as health care, financial supports, and assumed independence.  This article outlines the difficulties experienced in terms of the health care transition.  In other words, clients with FASD move from a paediatric health care setting into an adult health care system in which privacy is revered, appointments must be kept, and guardians are left standing on the sidelines with little to no ability to help the person with neurodevelopmental challenges.

As Dr. Racine, Director of the Neuroethics research unit at the IRCM contends, “Health care transition is a crucial process in the lives of youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their parents…  Transition challenges are likely to be greater among these adolescents because of the complexity of their health care needs and the stigma associated with physical and intellectual disabilities that may accompany their disorders.  Some individuals believe they were suddenly removed from paediatric care and thrust into a foreign system for which they had not been adequately prepared.”

The authors of the study go on to discuss their recommendations for amending this situation.  One such suggestion is to allow flexibility in the age requirement for transition from child to adult health care systems such that the individual is sufficiently developmentally prepared for that transition, as opposed to forcing the transition based on an arbitrary age.

This research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé.  To access the academic journal article please visit: http://www.pulsus.com/journals/abstract.jsp?sCurrPg=abstract&jnlKy=5&atlKy=12663&isuKy=1192&isArt=t&fromfold=Current+Issue&fold=Abstract

 

 

FASD requires more than talk

FASD requires more than talk

By: The StarPhoenix, 22 Jan 2014

Accessed on: 23 Jan 2014

Commentary by: Krystal Glowatski

As a follow-up to the meeting of FASD experts in Saskatoon in mid-January to discuss the issue of FASD in Saskatchewan, The StarPhoenix ran a story titled, “FASD requires more than talk.”

The story outlines the preventable nature of FASD, but also sets the stage for the limitations on prevention as a solution to FASD.  While the solution seems simple – don’t drink while you’re pregnant and you will not produce a child with FASD – there are limitations on the controls government can place over women’s rights when it comes to their bodies.

The article states, “A 1997 Supreme Court decision made it clear… that governments have limited powers in forcibly preventing pregnant women from drinking or having them take solvent-abuse prevention programs in the guise of protecting the fetus.  Women in Canada have the right to control what’s done to their bodies even if society disagrees with how they exercise that right.”

For example, as this article points out, there are many awareness campaigns out there, informing women and girls of the dangers of drinking alcohol while pregnant.  This is an excellent initiative – for some women.

The problem, however, is that while women do not wish harm on their babies, there are issues that need to be addressed which extend beyond awareness.  For example, women often do not know they are pregnant for the first while – something that is often mentioned at conferences on FASD and by advocates promoting prevention through abstaining from alcohol altogether.  If you recall a news blog I wrote in early January about pregnancy test dispensers being placed in pubs, the goal of these dispensers is to offer awareness to women going out for drinks.  By taking a pregnancy test at the earliest possible moment, women can cease drinking immediately, thus reducing the potential harm to their fetus.  However, some women may be struggling with alcohol and other addictions.  The initiative is an inventive one for certain, but I hope there will be further focus on other issues causing FASD – issues such as addiction, trauma, poverty, abuse, and the effects of colonialism.

As the final passage of this article states, “It is the responsibility of governments to try to address the social problems at the root of these issues, including making sure that women have the financial security to take control of their lives.  It may not be cheap, but it costs society less in the long run than dealing with FASD victims for their entire lives.”

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.

Cost of FASD will snowball: Ontario nurses

Cost of FASD will snowball: Ontario nurses

By: Craig Gilbert (London Community News), 14 Jan 2014

Accessed on: 14 Jan 2014

Commentary by: Krystal Glowatski

On Monday, two nurses from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) presented a case to the Select Committee on Developmental Services, composed of MPPs from all three parties who must put together a report and recommendations for the legislature regarding a comprehensive strategy for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

The message from the nurses was clear: Prevention is key; if Ontario doesn’t “get out in front of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)… we’ll all pay a lot more down the road.”

The nurses made a point to highlight the extent of FASD costs and problems – both problems for the individuals and larger social problems.  They recognized that FASD isn’t only a health issue but also an education and justice issue.  Liberal MPP Soo Wong stepped in to highlight this point by stating, “You might label little Johnny as a behavioural problem when in fact he has a medical condition…  And it’s preventable.  Teachers are not familiar with this term and are therefore not properly supported in the classroom.  It’s not just about the health sector.  It clearly is an education, a justice issue: they intertwine.”

While BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have already created comprehensive strategies for dealing with FASD and mental health issues Ontario has yet to do so.  The nurses are calling on the government to set this into motion now.

Currently, FASD Ontario Network of Expertise’s (ONE) website states they are drafting one.

In these projects there is often a heavy focus on prevention.  But what about all of the individuals who have already been diagnosed?  Or worse yet – those who have FASD but don’t even know it.  What should be done about individuals who are in dire need of assessment, diagnosis, and services?