What is New Jersey Doing About FAS?

New Jersey has pursued excellence in the identification and treatment of FAS since the early 1980's, with some efforts continuing across the years and others running for shorter intervals. Before 1981, there was relatively little discussion of FAS across the state, with the first statewide conference on FAS held in 1982 for perinatal professionals. In 1983, the Governor's Task Force on Alcoholism established the New Jersey Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and this task force then initiated a wide range of activities to promote prevention and education in both the public and private sectors. These outreach activities substantially increased public awareness of the dangers of consuming alcohol during pregnancy and culminated in the

  • 1993 Passage of Public Law 1993 Chapter 43 which required the public posting of informational materials indicating the danger of drinking during pregnancy.
  • 1993 FAS for New Jersey Family Court Judges Initiative which organized the FAS teen defendant program, addressed issues related to the sentencing of teenagers with FAS, and provided more effective means of communicating with individuals with FAS and FASD involved in legal proceedings.
  • 1997 Pregnant Pause created, in conjunction with The ARC of New Jersey, to encourage awareness of the dangers of drinking during pregnancy and to encourage businesses serving alcohol to provide non-alcohol beverages to pregnant women.

Despite the broadening of public awareness, there are relatively few direct services that have been made available to women who have used or are addicted to alcohol. The first major change in service delivery began in 1998 with the FAS Prevention Project. This project provides for an integrated statewide network of regionalized services intended to prevent FAS and FASD and to increase the likelihood of healthy children, and at that time, led to the requirement that each hospital have available a Risk Reduction Specialist. These specialists provide drug and alcohol assessment and screeening, education, and referrals for susbtance abuse treatment. Statewide efforts have included initiatives related to education and prevention, and each has met with varying degrees of success. A review of these programs noted that one missing component was the development of a statewide comprehensive system for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of FAS.

In early 2002, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (http://www.state.nj.us/health) established six regional centers for FAS and FASD. The Regional Centers:

  • outreach to provide supportive services that help mitigate the expensive, life-long disorders associated with FAS and FASD
  • provide identification, diagnosis and case management of individuals who were exposed to alcohol during the mother's pregnancy
  • provide such services as identification and outreach, diagnosis, case management, family support, psychiatric services, and medical and allied health intervention (individualized according to center)
  • ensure regional access to an appropriate team of professional and ancillary personnel (neurodevelopmental pediatrician, psychiatrist/psychologist, social worker, learning disabilities specialist, geneticist, etc.) for the diagnosis, treatment and education for FAS and FASD
  • provide workshops and lectures on issues related to prenatal exposure to alcohol and FASD
  • help organize regional public information and education campaigns
  • ensure the availability of resources so that primary care providers within the regions disseminate information and literature that addresses the effects of FAS/FASD
  • coordinate with the regional Maternal and Child Health Consortia (MCHC) regarding activities to influence and assist perinatal and family planning providers and primary healthcare providers to upgrade information and their ability to address substance abuse issues within their practice
  • coordinate with the New Jersey Office For the Prevention of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. For more information, see 2002FUNDED1.htm.

The Regional Diagnostic Centers continue to operate throughout New Jersey. They are available for diagnostic assessments, as well as lectures and workshops on various related topics. Please contact adubatsu@umdnj.edu for additional information. Each Center also works with their regional Maternal Child Health Consortia's Perinatal Addiction Specialists. Together, they offer information and workshops covering prenatal alcohol use and the lifelong effects. NJ also is the first in the nation to offer a Perinatal Addictons Specialist Certification through the Certification Board of NJ. This specialty covers 30 hours training in this area and now is a requirement for all new and renewing CADCs. For more information, please go to the website: CERTBD.com. Finally, in early 2007, an on-line Webcourse will be offered through the New Jersey Medical School covering the topics of the Curriculum developed through a grant from the CDC for continuing education credits.
   

 
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