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Hope for Women in Recovery
National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Hosts Summit
September 8, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Christina Marsigli
(202) 785-4585
Washington—On September 8 & 9, NOFAS will host a two-day summit at the Wyndham-Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland bringing women in treatment together with addiction and FAS experts, state legislators and state agencies. The summit is the first of its kind in Maryland and it will serve as a pilot project in the national effort to combat Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The event is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) FASD Center for Excellence.
An estimated 40,000 infants are born with alcohol-related effects every year in the United States. FAS and other FASDs are the leading known preventable cause of mental retardation, birth defects and learning disabilities. Still, they often go undiagnosed and untreated. Problems with attention, behavior, judgment, memory, and social development are lifelong issues for these children and their families. Despite the statistics, there is a severe lack of pre-natal education, health care and treatment for those at risk or affected. In Maryland alone, millions of dollars are spent each year to cover the needs of affected children through special education, mental and physical health care, shelter costs, and additional costs associated with their likely involvement in the juvenile justice system.
The first day of the summit introduces women currently in addiction treatment in Maryland to FAS experts, and features a Town Hall meeting to provide women the opportunity to share their experiences with addiction and the possible effects of alcohol they have seen and experienced with their own children. The summit will also feature presentations from leading FASD experts including Dr. Ed Riley, a leading researcher from San Diego State University and the Chairman of the National Task Force on FAS, Dr. Faye Calhoun, Associate Director of NIAAA, and Dr. Paula Lockhart from Maryland's Kennedy Krieger Institute, among others.
"It is time for Maryland to get proactive in preventing FASD. Maryland spends millions annually to treat thousands of women for addiction disorders, yet tragically women receive little education on the affects of alcohol on the developing fetus," said Kathleen Mitchell, Director of the Women's Summit and National Spokesperson for NOFAS. "Many women leave treatment still convinced that as long as they don't use illicit drugs while pregnant, their child is safe, and that beer and wine don't count. Nothing could be further from the truth. As long as they drink, their children are at risk."
"It takes a brave person to speak about personal addiction and adversity, especially when it affects their children, " said NOFAS Executive Director Tom Donaldson. "It is through their bravery that Maryland regulators, legislators and polcy makers will hear the truth: Any amount of alcohol is a threat to an unborn child, and its consequences place a severe burden on the state."
Day 2 of the summit falls on International FAS Day and will educate state legislators, justice officials and social services providers about FASD, including better ways to prevent and treat FASD.
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