Connecting Families with FASD Resources

Project Description

Challenge

When a child receives an FASD diagnosis, families are often left feeling isolated and unsure where to turn to next. A major challenge for caregivers is finding what resources exist to help their child and how to access them.

Project Summary

KBHN researchers worked with community partners to design the Fetal Alcohol Resource Program (FARP) to address this very issue. FARP is a partnership between KBHN, Citizen Advocacy Ottawa, the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

The program got its start in 2015 and worked across sectors to design educational workshops and training events to raise the capacity for local service organizations in the Ottawa region to support children with FASD and their families. The idea behind the program is to unite community organizations and expertise across many sectors, including (but not limited to) child welfare, education, justice, employment, housing, social work, and health care. Over time, program staff began to take on a navigator role—when someone reaches out looking for resources, program coordinators guide them towards existing resources.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, FARP works to raise awareness and capacity within existing programs and helps families coordinate service delivery. An essential aspect of FARP is they provide training on FASD to frontline staff, including teachers, social service workers and police officers, and have trained over 600 individuals to date.

Result

The FARP team has had measureable impacts for children and families across many aspects of their daily lives. For children who are struggling in school, the FARP team delivers workshops at the school to provide teachers and support staff with practical, evidence-informed strategies on how to best support a child with FASD. The FARP team may also advocate for a parent who is trying to get extra school supports for their child, and respond to a parent in crisis who may be looking for supportive housing for their child. The FARP team has built connections across the region that has enabled them to help families connect connect more quickly with the services they need when they are needed.

Funding

This subproject was part of the larger “FASD: Early Life Adversity, Outcomes and Secondary Intervention and Prevention.” The FASD program was funded a total of $1,205,381 from the Kids Brain Health Network and $2,148,667 from participating partners.