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Home > About Us > Projects & Initiatives > Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Project

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Project

FASD

FASD is a term describing the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy. Nationally, every year about 40,000 babies are born with symptoms of prenatal alcohol exposure. These effects may include physical, mental, behavioral, and/or learning disabilities.

Costs of FASD to society and for each alcohol-affected individual are very high. The most recent estimate from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) is that FASD costs the Nation over $4 billion each year. The lifetime cost for each child with FASD is $2 million or more. Of individuals with FASD between the ages of 12 and 51: 95% will have mental health problems, 68% will have “disrupted school experience; 68% will experience trouble with the law; 55% will be confined in prison, drug or alcohol treatment center or mental institution; 52% will exhibit inappropriate sexual behavior. (1)

Maine Statistics

  • It is estimated that as many as 17.6% of Maine’s pregnant women use alcohol and/or drugs during pregnancy. This results in roughly 2,300 potentially alcohol-affected at-risk births each year. (2)
  • In Maine, 50% of all treatment episodes for women are alcohol related.
  • OSA estimates there are approximately 24,000 Maine women in need of treatment, yet only about 20% enter treatment each year.

FASD is 100% preventable

The FASD Project

Project Goal

To eliminate alcohol-affected births in Maine.

Project Activities

We are planning a multi-faceted project including developing FASD prevention policies and procedures, developing FASD prevention programs that affect behavior change, and improving integration of FASD prevention services into existing service delivery systems.

In its first year, the project will:

  • Establish an FASD working task force
  • Develop a state-wide focus on FASD prevention
  • Conduct and complete a FASD needs assessment among at risk women of childbearing age by the end of May 2005
  • Based on the Needs Assessment, consider appropriate strategies for addressing FASD prevention
  • Develop a comprehensive strategy for the implementation of FASD prevention initiatives for the four year period of 2006 – 2010.

Primary Contractor

Maine Office of Substance Abuse

Project Director

Mr. William Lowenstein
Associate Director, Maine OSA
207-287-6484

Project Coordinator

Ms. Carrie McFadden
The Women’s Project/PROP
207-287-4023

Subcontractor

Glenwood Research
www.glenwoodresearch.com
 207-627-3145

Funding Provided By:

SAMHSA FASD Center for Excellence
http://www.fascenter.samhsa.gov

Project Timeline

  • Phase I: October 2004 – August 2005
  • Phase II: September 2005 – August 2010

1. Source: http://www.fasworld.com/facts.ihtml

2. State of Maine Substance Abuse Treatment Needs Assessment. Maine Office of Substance Abuse, December, 1999, p. ES-9.

 

printable fact sheet