NOFAS Today

Keep up with the latest NOFAS activities and breaking news.

To track upcoming appearances by the NOFAS team, go to Where is NOFAS?

• Kathy Mitchell presented to all the members of the George Washington University Physician Assistants program on December 8 in Washington, D.C.

• Kathy Mitchell participated in the December 2-3 SAMHSA FASD Center of Excellence Expert Panel Meeting  in McLean, Virginia.

• Kathy Mitchell is serving as an expert consultant to Terra Nova Learning Systems in support of a project to develop an online resource for caregivers of children living with an FASD.

• Kathy Mitchell led a November 18 training for the staff of the Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration, Office of Prevention Services, Washington, D.C.

• The NOFAS Executive Committee met in Washington, D.C. on Novmeber 16.

• On November 17, Kathy Mitchell conducted an FASD Identification and Intervention workshop for the Resident Services Division of the Housing Opportunities Commission(HOC), Montgomery County, Maryland.

• NOFAS hosted a November 3rd dinner in Washington, D.C. with Congressman Norm Dicks (D - WA) and key NOFAS sponsors including Medco, BAE Systems, TriWest and CNA Corporation.

• Erin Frey presented to the clinical staff of the Riverside San Bernardino County Indian Clinics on November 3.

• On October 28, Kathy Mitchell appeared at the Montgomery County Government Center for Continuous Learning, Health and Human Resources in Montgomery County, Maryland.

• Kathy Mitchell presented, "FASD Identification, Intervention & Prevention" to 125 allied health care workers oat the Council on Alcohol and Drugs in Houston, Texas, on October 16.

• On October 2, Kathy Mitchell conducted a training for the Center for Adoption Support and Education in Burtonsville, Maryland.

• Erin Frey conducted the first of two presentations to staff of the Harrisonburg Community Health Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on September 30.

• Kathy Mitchell was the lead presenter at the National Professional Training Conference on Responding to Crime Victims with Disabilities, in Denver, Colorado, on September 30.

• Tom Donaldson was quoted in a CBS News Radio story regarding, Holmes v. Louisiana, the FASD-related case conferenced by the Supreme Court of the United States on September 29. Kathy Mitchell and Tom Donaldson were quoted in several dozen print and website articles during the week on the same subject.

• On September 23, Tom Donaldson participated on a panel at a meeting of the National Institutes on Health (NIH) Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB), Substance Use, Abuse, and Addiction (SUAA) workgroup.

• Kathy Mitchell conducted a three-hour presentation on September 21 at Miner Elementary School in Washington, DC regarding students with FASD. The audience consisted of 75 teachers and counselors.
• On September 18, Kathy Mitchell conducted a day-long presentation, The Prenatal and Lifelong Effects of FASD, in Asheville, North Carolina, in conjunction with Mission Hospitals Fullerton Genetics Center.

• Kathy Mitchell was the guest speaker at the NOFAS FASD Parent and Family Support Group in Suburban Maryland on September 15.

• The NOFAS Board of Directors met on September 10 in Washington, D.C.

• NOFAS sponsored an FASD advocates rally at Rockefeller Center in New York City at the outdoor Today Show set on FASD Awareness Day, September 9.

• Kathy Mitchell and Erin Frey attended the Maryland FASD Coalition meeting in Baltimore on August 20.

• Lauren Pulte is working on a range of writing projects for NOFAS this summer including website content, media outreach, the NOFAS annual report and a call to action document.

• Tom Donaldson and Kathy Mitchell presented to a graduate school class at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. on July 21. The students are developing FASD advocacy plans for Maryland and Virginia.

• Danielle Martin a medical school student at Georgetown University is working in the NOFAS office this summer providing program support.

• NOFAS is now on Twitter!

• Lisa Murkowski, Tom Daschle, Glynn Crooks, Dr. Clarie Coles and Barbara Wybrecht headlined the annual NOFAS Leadership Awards Benefit on June 24, in Washington, D.C.

• NOFAS sponsored an FASD Legislation and Policy Forum in Washington, D.C.

• NOFAS hosted the sixth annual meeting of its affiliates on June 23.

• Kathy Mitchell presented at a FASD conference sponsored by Mercy Child Advocacy Center in Sioux City, Iowa on June 11.

• The NOFAS Board of Directors met on June 9 to discuss the upcoming NOFAS benefit and policy forum, and conduct other business.

• Kathy Mitchell conducted a Birth Mother's Network Peer Training on June 8 and 9 in Orlando, FL.

• Patton Boggs LLP, the NOFAS pro bono legal firm, submitted on behalf of NOFAS an Amicus Curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in support of a petition for writ of certiorari in the case of Brandy Holmes, a 29-year old women with FAS currently on death row in Louisiana.

• Tom Donaldson and Kathy Mitchell participated in the May 20 Friends of NIAAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) Congressional briefing.

• NOFAS is addressing the recent media coverage of a paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics, "You can't handle the truth; medical paternalism and prenatal alcohol use", that in part calls it unethical for practitioners to advise women to completely abstain from alcohol use during pregnancy. NOFAS is seeking coverage of its viewpoint on the issues raised in the publication. This is the latest effort to influence the official government position on alcohol consumption during pregnancy in the United Kingdom. NOFAS disagrees with the publication's premise and conclusions, and supports the latest advisory on the subject from the U.S. Surgeon General that emphasizes that women who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or who could be pregnant, abstain from alcohol due to the risk of birth defects.

• NOFAS is supporting the Washington, D.C.-based legal firm, Patton Boggs, in the preparation of an Amicus Curiae or "friend of the court" brief in support of a petition to the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to review the Louisiana Supreme Court's judgment in the case of Brandy Holmes. Holmes has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and was sentenced to death for her involvement in crimes in Louisiana. The brief argues in part that her FAS is a mitigating circumstance rendering a capital sentence a violation of her constitutional rights.

• This spring NOFAS has moved to a new location. The new NOFAS office address in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. is 1200 Eton Court, Third Floor, Washington, DC  20007. The telephone and fax numbers remain the same.

• Both Kathy Mitchell and NOFAS Program Director Erin Frey, MD, participated in the SAMHSA FASD Center for Excellence BFSS meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 13.

• Kathy Mitchell hosted a breakfast meeting of the NOFAS affiliate network in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on may 13.

• Tom Donaldson taught the NOFAS class on the moral and legal implications of FASD, and public policy issues, at Georgetown University School of Medicine on May 13.

• On May 12, Kathy Mitchell participated in the SAMHSA Center of Excellence expert panel meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

• The Circle of Hope - Birth Mother Network (COH-BMN), founded by NOFAS Vice President Kathy Mitchell, met in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 11.

• Bri Montgomery hosted the NOFAS Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area FASD Support Group at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, on May 9.

• Tom Donaldson and Erin Frey attended the meeting of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on FASD (ICCFASD) on May 8.

• On May 6, Grace Chang, MD, MPH, Associate Physician in Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital  in Boston, MA, presented at the NOFAS medical school class at Georgetown University.

• The spring 2009 Georgetown University Medical School Selective, "But Isn’t Wine Okay? Identifying and Preventing Fetal Brain Damage" is an enormous success. Karli Schrider was a guest presenter on April 29th. On May 6th, Dr. Grace Chang will be the guest speaker and will discuss women, addiction, screening and brief intervention.  

• Bri Montgomery encourages you to buy the NEW women’s fitted Warrior Mom shirt!  Now available for only $15 in chocolate brown, pale yellow, and black!

• Tom Donaldson opposed the proposed study of a merger between the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the April 28th meeting of the NIH Scientific Management Review Board.

• Dr. Erin Frey presented the NOFAS class at the Georgetown University School of Medicine on April 22nd. The class focused on the Disease of Addiction, Women and Addiction, and Screening Women for Alcohol in Community Health Centers. Noelle Kidwell, BSN, joined Dr. Frey as a guest presenter.

• On April 21st, Dr. Frey Trained 14 clinical staff at Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health community health center in Jackson, Mississippi on FASD prevention, screening, and diagnosis. 

• Kathy Mitchell traveled to Cranbrook, British Columbia the week of April 20th where she facilitated two FASD Conferences for the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child & Family Services Society. Day one was targeted to professionals and day two the community members. 

• Dr. Erin Frey trained 60 clinical staff at Muskegon Family Care community health center in Muskegon Heights, Michigan on FASD prevention, screening, and diagnosis. 

• Kathy Mitchell facilitated a workshop for the administrators and faculty from Kensington Elementary School in Kensington, Maryland, where she featured the NOFAS K-12 FASD Prevention Curriculum.  

• Kathy Mitchell facilitated an FASD workshop for psychologists that work in the Maryland school system. Susan Parks, PhD, from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland provided information about diagnosis and testing. Five Maryland counties participated in the workshop.

• Kathy Mitchell and Tom Donaldson spoke at an April 16th FASD symposium at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. "FASD: Translating Research to Policies that Assure Essential Services" was developed and hosted by Dr. Carole Brown, former FASD Task Force Member.

• On April 3rd, Dr. Frey Trained 15 clinical staff at Central Virginia Health Services community health center in Farmville, Virginia, on FASD prevention, screening, and diagnosis. 

• Dr. Frey and Bri Montgomery are coordinating with Utah’s Safe and Drug Free Schools to hold a Focus Group with Utah teachers on the NOFAS K-12 FASD Prevention curriculum.