OJJDP Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Listening Session Report

• NCJ Number: 249202
• Date Published: January 2017
• Length: 51 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Issue Overview; Conference Material

Annotation

This is a report on the listening session on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) held on June 13-14, 2013, under the sponsorship of the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in collaboration with the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law and the Commission on Youth at Risk.

Abstract

FASD is an umbrella term for a range of disabilities of varying severity that affect youth who were exposed to alcohol during their prenatal development. Youth with FASD often have poor social skills, lack impulse control, and have difficulty managing conflict, which places them at increased risk for involvement with the juvenile justice system. Thus, legal and judicial professionals must be educated about FASD so they can respond effectively to FASD youth in the juvenile justice system. At the listening session, experts from across the Nation shared the latest information on diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitative care for youth with FASD, as well as perspectives on the courts and the adjudication of such youth. The session's main product was the finalization of a national action plan with 26 recommendations in a range of areas, including information dissemination, screening and diagnosis, the law and the courts, and the engagement of multiple systems in coordinating the care of youth with FASD. This action plan is appended to this report on the listening session. The content of the presentations and interactive discussions on each day of the 2-day session are presented in the main body of this session report. An appended session agenda and listing of presenters/facilitators, participants, and observers