The Diagnostic Centers

The location of the New Jersey Regional Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Centers is shown in the map below. Addresses, points of contact for each center, and phone numbers are provided below.

Click here to enter MapQuest to find driving directions to the regional center serving your geographical area: Northern FASD Newark/Beth Israel Mountainside Neptune Vineland Mays Landing	NORTHERN REGIONAL CENTERS
	Susan Adubato, Ph.D., Coordinator adubatsu@umdnj.edu Marianella Abreau, Contract Person Northern NJ FASD Diagnostic Center 30 Bergen St.ADMC 1608 Newark, NJ 07107 (973) 972-8930	Barbara Caspi, Ph.D., Coordinator bcaspi@sbhcs.com CHATT-Child Evaluation Center Cynthia Earl, Contact Person Newark Beth Israel Hospital Affiliate, St. Barnabas Health Care System 201 Lyons Avenue Newark, NJ 07112 (973) 926-4544
	CENTRAL REGIONAL CENTERS
	Denise Aloisio, MD Kyle McLaughlin, MSW, Contact Person kmclaughlin@meridianhealth.com Child Eval Center at Jersey Shore Medical Center 1944 Route 33, Suite 101-A Neptune, NJ 07753 (732) 776-4178	Uday Mehta, MD, MPH, Director Lori Ioriatti, MSN, CPNP, Contact Person LIoriatt@childrens-specialized.org Ambulatory Care Center Children's Specialized Hospital 150 New Providence Road Mountainside, NJ 07092 (908) 301-5511
	SOUTHERN REGIONAL CENTERS
	Lisa Cuff, M.A., Director CuffL@SJHS.com South Jersey Healthcare Child Development Center 1138 East Chestnut Avenue Building 3B Vineland, NJ 08360 (856) 696-1035	FASD Director Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Specialty Care Center in Atlantic City 4009 Black Horse Pike Mays Landing, NJ 08330 (609) 677-7895

What Services Can the Regional FASD Diagnostic Centers Provide?

The regional FASD centers provide a comprehensive system for the identification, diagnosis, and case management of children who have been prenatally exposed to alcohol. The specific services provided by the diagnostic centers include

1. Identification and Screening

One of the best prevention procedures is the identification of pregnant women who consume, or are at risk for consuming, alcohol. The Centers are working across the state to inform primary care physicians and allied health professionals, about the services offered at the regional centers and to provide them with a common screening tool. This tool has been developed by the diagnostic centers to identify children that may be at risk. These forms are then sent to the closest diagnostic center where they are reviewed by the FASD coordinator and treatment team, after which families are contacted to schedule a comprehensive evaluation. See http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/collaboration/miller.htm for more information.

2. Diagnosis

A multidisciplinary team is available at each diagnostic center for the diagnosis of infants, children, and adolescents with the primary diagnosis determined by either a pediatric neurologist or a developmental pediatrician. Once the diagnosis is made in accordance with the coding system developed at the University of Washington, an integrated developmental and educational plan is developed in collaboration with appropriate family and community resources. The identification of FAS or FASD, optimally, begins at birth, but the facial features may not be evident until later. See http://depts.washington.edu/fasdpn for more information.

3. Case Management

Each diagnostic center assigns a case manager to each child diagnosed with FAS or FASD who serves as the primary advocate for the child. The role of the case manager is to interface with primary health care providers, early intervention programs, school study teams, and state and local agencies. Case managers also provide referral resources to the family of the affected child.

4. Family Support

The educational and behavioral problems that children with FAS or FASD typically demonstrate often result in families feeling isolated and unable to manage their children's behavior. The regional FASD diagnostic centers have primary responsibility for organizing family support groups that provide families with forums for parents sharing their concerns and experiences. See http://64.224.167.204/fasdirect/national.htm and http://www.thearc.org for more information.

5. Counseling Services

Many children with FAS or FASD experience psychiatric problems, especially depression. Psychiatric services may be involved in the diagnostic processes, and additional services can be coordinated by the case manager. Speak with your regional center for assistance.

6. Continuing Education

Professionals associated with the regional FASD centers play primary roles in the dissemination of information about FAS and the Diagnostic Centers. Each regional Diagnostic Center has prepared presentations that can be delivered to a wide range of audiences and is actively involved in providing information about services and screening in its geographic area. Educational outreaches include:

Educational Settings. The regional FASD centers provide materials for use in educational programming at the junior and high school levels. Additionally, information on the educational issues related to the teaching of students diagnosed with FAS or FASD can be provided at statewide educational conferences.
Community Services. The regional centers provide materials for professional workers in local and state service agencies.
Professional Settings. The regional FASD centers provide materials for workshop and continuing education opportunities for medical practitioners and professionals in allied health occupations. The regional centers are also currently developing materials for inclusion in a medical school curriculum at UMDNJ - one of the four Regional Education and Training sites in the United States (supported by funds from the Center for Disease Control).

7. Surveillance and Monitoring

The design of the FASD Diagnostic and Treatment Center provides an ideal means to improve data collection on the incidence of FAS/FASD, including demographics of the affected children. In addition, education of primary health care providers about FAS/FASD should result in an increase in reporting of these disorders to the Department of Health and Senior Services. Increased reporting will provide the data necessary to evaluate the effects of primary prevention, as well as information required for program and service planning. In addition, it may be possible to conduct cost-benefit analyses for prevention of prenatal alcohol damage. Such research could include the reduced costs to the social/health care system by early and accurate identification. In addition, it provides researchers with the ability to determine the most successful interventions and medications for impacting the behaviors and consequences associated with FAS/FASD. Therefore, surveillance and evaluation must be an integral part of the design of the FASD Diagnostic and Treatment. It is our hope that a surveillance registry for all of our families will be in place in the next few years. See http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fas/fassurv.htm for more information.

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