Examples of prevention activities conducted by the MSACD Prevention Program include:

The MSACD Prevention Program serves as the state expert on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and other drug related birth defects.

The Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project at Emory University have been in existence since 1982 and is still the most comprehensive of its kind in the U.S. The MSACD Project was originally funded to examine the immediate and long-term consequences of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome at a time when there was disagreement in the professional community as to whether or not the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome existed. The MSACD Project was one of the earliest to obtain consistent data that The Maternal Substance Abuse prenatal alcohol use resulted in affected children. The MSACD Project was the first program to produce data regarding FAS in African-Americans and continues to be recognized as having more data on FAS in African-American children than any other source. The Howard University School of Medicine frequently consults with the project for information and data. The MSACD Project also provides information and data to the U.S. Indian Health Service, and the MSACD Project director was a member of the National Institutes of Health team that conducted a site visit to Russia under the Gore/Chernomyrdin agreement.

In early studies conducted by the MSACD Project, the Project was the first to demonstrate that prevention and intervention with pregnant substance-abusing women produced results. These early studies indicated that 1/3rd of women stopped drinking during pregnancy as a result of being told of the dangers to their child, and the MSACD Project was the first to demonstrate that those women who stopped drinking by the second trimester delivered babies who were of normal birthweight and improved cognitive outcomes. By 1985, the Project developed the FAS Screening Checklist for identification at birth of infants affected by prenatal alcohol use. In 1995, the manual was written and distributed. The MSACD Project has consistently demonstrated that perinatal identification of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome accurately predicts later development. The MSACD Project has also demonstrated psycho/social aspects of FAS as a way of identifying specific defects. This knowledge is a critical base upon which to develop prevention and treatment programs for children with FAS at both the neuropsychological and social levels of their functioning. The information gathered from the MSACD Project is being used to identify treatment and prevention programs may be effective to minimize the disorder, as well as information about social/behavioral functioning that may decrease or prevent the costly secondary disabilities that are now documented in children and youth with FAS (e.g., troubles with the law, mental health problems and disrupted school experience.)

The MSACD Project also developed the Georgia Addiction in Parenting Project (GAPP) which provided evidence that women using alcohol who were able to function with their children in the relatively normal environment of the GAPP halfway-house were better able to use resources to prevent further alcohol use, abuse and dependence. The GAPP program's educational component provided public and professional information to transfer knowledge from research to practice. Subsequently, the GAPP program was spun off into two programs in Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia.

With the introduction of cocaine as a maternal substance of abuse, an approach similar to the Fetal Alcohol Study was activated as part of the ongoing maternal substance abuse prevention program. Similar to the FAS studies, federal funds provide the research component of these studies while the educational and prevention aspects are supported by the state funds.

The staff of the Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project has a breadth and depth of experience in working with substance abusing women and their children. We are dedicated to the prevention of the multiple, negative consequences of maternal substance use and/or abuse and the provision of a range of prevention services and activities to state agency and community-based staff across the state.

The MSACD Prevention Program delivers scientifically-based training on FAS and other drug related birth defects to a wide range of audiences.

The staff of the Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project provide training to enable human service professionals and communities to implement maternal substance abuse prevention programs. Some examples of the recipients of training and technical assistance provided by the MSACD Project include:

New Visions Treatment Center
Atlanta Alliance for Developmental Disabilities
Georgia State University
Morris Brown University
Project Embrace
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Cobb County Department of Family and Children's Services Foster Parents Training Series
Georgia Department of Human Resources, Office of Adoptions
Centre for Excellence in Child Development, Ottawa Canada
Rockdale Hospital
Newton/Rockdale Perinatal Coalition
Veterans Administration Hospital, Atlanta, Postdoctoral Training Program in Addictions
FAS Parent Support Group
Department of Family and Children's Services of Georgia (DFCS)
Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and AddictiveDiseases
Families of Children Under Stress (FOCUS)
Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Integrated Life Center
Gwinnett County Foster and Adoptive Parents Association
Kennedy Head Start Center
Child Protective Service Workers, DFCS
Sadie G. Mays Health and Rehabilitation Center
Georgia State University Project Healthy Grandparents
Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA)
Marcus Institute
Bethany Christian Services Adoption Agency
Emory University Department of Psychology
Emory University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Families First

The MSACD Prevention Program provides appropriate identification and referral services for children and youth impacted by maternal substance use/abuse and/or at high risk for fetal alcohol and other drug related birth defects as a result of prenatal exposure to alcohol and other drugs.

The Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development Project staff continue to work on their goal of identification and referral of prenatally exposed children by identifying and referring children and youth at high risk for substance abuse due to their prenatal exposure to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs through the mechanisms of the Marcus Institute Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Clinic and Emory University-State Newborn Genetic Program. This Clinic has continued to expand its services during 2002-2003. Currently, the Clinic serves 200 families a year providing multidisciplinary evaluation and referrals with the goal of preventing the secondary disabilities associated with prenatal alcohol and drug exposure. In addition, program evaluation is assured by comprehensive monitoring of activities within the clinic to characterize clients, referral sources and recommendations. This monitoring involves abstraction of medical records of clients and control groups and entry of this information into confidential databases. With the advent of the HIPAA laws, a number of procedures were put in place within the Clinic to assure patient privacy and confidentiality without interfering with provision of services. Drs. Coles, Howell, and Kable have provided services to this clinic on a weekly basis.

The MSACD Prevention Program develops and disseminates scientifically-based educational materials related to the latest trends and research in maternal substance abuse and child development.

To increase awareness of providers and professionals, the project continues to provide our newsletter series on substance abuse issues. Newsletter articles and MSA NewsLines are generated on a monthly basis, and submitted to over 20 state and national organizations for consideration and publication in their newsletter venues. Examples of newsletter articles and MSA NewsLines submitted by the MSACD Project include:

Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Women and Smoking
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Tracking High Risk Families
Infant Mental Health
Labeling of Containers and the Prevention of Drinking During Pregnancy
Stress and the Developing Brain
Developmental Impact of Lead Exposure and Lead Poisoning
Early Identification of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
From Birth to Adolescence: Long Term Effects of Alcohol Exposure
Psychological Aspects of Pregnancy
Update on Effects of Cocaine in Pregnancy
A Still Illusive Expectation: Prediction of the Risk of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Based on Maternal Genotype and Alcohol Use in Pregnancy
The Influence of Maternal Genotype on FAS

The MSACD Project was successful in getting these articles published in a number of newsletters, including those of the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services, the Georgia Psychological Association, the Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities, and the Families Affected Support Newsletter. Articles were also published on the MSACD Project web page.

The MSACD Project also develops curriculums, brochures and fact sheets for use statewide in a variety of settings. Examples include a Smoking During Pregnancy Fact Sheet, and a Marcus Institute Fetal Alcohol Center Fact Sheet. These have been widely circulated throughout the state at our various educational and community- based outreach efforts. In addition, we continue to distribute the previously produced FAS Fact Sheet which is available in English as well as a Spanish translation; the Drug Use during Pregnancy Fact Sheet, the speakers bureau brochure to raise awareness of our training and technical assistance efforts; the FAS full-color brochure; and the FAS Parent Support Group brochure. In addition, a number of curriculum modules were outlined and created to disseminate knowledge across a breadth and depth of topic areas. Examples of the curriculum modules produced by the MSACD Project include:

Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy
Social Policy and the Prevalence of Alcohol Use During Pregnancy
Alcohol in Pregnancy: Long Term Effects on Development
Stress Management for Parents of Affected Children
Children of Substance Abusing Families
Knowing your Child from the Inside Out
Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol and Cocaine
Teaching Safety to Children: Fire Safety and Street Safety
Prenatal Exposure to Nicotine, Cocaine, Marijuana and Opiates
FAS Clinic at the Marcus Institute
Three Things to Do with Your Child
Substance Abusing Families
Raising a Secure Child
FAS/D as a Process in Time
Behavior Management in Children of Substance Abusers

The MSACD Prevention Program serves as an information resource center on maternal substance use and/or abuse and child development issues including effective maternal substance abuse prevention strategies, consequences of maternal substance abuse, and FASD and other drug related birth defects. Prevention activities included within this mandate include:

The MSACD Prevention Program maintains a maternal substance abuse and child development web site to provide current, relevant and accurate information for human service professionals and the general public.

The Maternal Substance Abuse and Child Development WebSite is designed with several goals in mind. We wanted to provide user-friendly, accessible information about the effects of prenatal drug and alcohol exposure for caregivers, teachers, or others in a general audience. Pages under these links contain short articles on specific topics of interest, explaining the physical and behavioral consequences on prenatal exposure to commonly-used drugs, behavior problems that are often seen in exposed children, and tips on how to deal with these behaviors in the home and classroom. Most of these articles were written by members of the MSACD project and reflect the individual's area of expertise. Some of the articles were collected from the NIDA, NIAAA, and NOFAS web sites, to show the corroboration among experts in this area. We have also assembled pages of links and other information on places throughout Georgia and across the Internet where people can find help and support for dealing with some of these problems. Another goal was to provide more in-depth information for professionals and researchers. Included under the "Information for Professionals" button is a referenced summary of each of our various research projects, abstracts from research that has been presented or published, and recommended references from the scientific literature. The theme of this set of pages is that determining the outcome of prenatal exposure to drugs is a very complex issue and depends on many levels of interaction between physiological and environmental variables. Finally, we wanted to highlight our activities in the area of prevention. The button for "Prevention Activities" is linked to pages describing our various community-based efforts in education and prevention. Included here is information on how to identify a child with FAS and the location of clinics in Atlanta and across the state that specialize in treating the child with FAS. We also have information on the speakers bureau we established under the general theme of "Drug Awareness for Healthy Children," geared towards providing community groups with professional advice on the issues related to maternal substance abuse. The web page also contains a general introduction to the identity and qualifications of the members of the MSACD project and a link with information for soliciting volunteer subjects for our current research.

The MSACD Prevention Program develops and disseminates a minimum of four new pieces of educational material, including but not limited to: brochures, fact sheets, or newsletters.

The MSACD Project developed curriculum, brochures and fact sheets for use statewide in a variety of settings. Examples include a Smoking During Pregnancy Fact Sheet, and a Marcus Institute Fetal Alcohol Center Fact Sheet. These have been widely circulated throughout the state at our various educational and community- based outreach efforts. In addition, we continue to distribute the previously produced FAS Fact Sheet which is available in English as well as a Spanish translation; the Drug Use during Pregnancy Fact Sheet, the speakers bureau brochure to raise awareness of our training and technical assistance efforts; the FAS full-color brochure; and the FAS Parent Support Group brochure.

In addition, a number of curriculum modules were outlined and created to disseminate knowledge across a breadth and depth of topic areas. Examples of the curriculum modules produced include:

Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy
Social Policy and the Prevalence of Alcohol Use During Pregnancy
Alcohol in Pregnancy: Long Term Effects on Development
Stress Management for Parents of Affected Children
Children of Substance Abusing Families
Knowing your Child from the Inside Out
Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol and Cocaine
Teaching Safety to Children: Fire Safety and Street Safety
Prenatal Exposure to Nicotine, Cocaine, Marijuana and Opiates
FAS Clinic at the Marcus Institute
Three Things to Do with Your Child
Substance Abusing Families
Raising a Secure Child
FAS/D as a Process in Time
Behavior Management in Children of Substance Abusers

The MSACD Prevention Program provides parent training and support for the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Support Group.

The MSACD Project continues to support and facilitate parent efficacy through maintenance of a productive relationship with the FAS Parent Support Group. Through presentations, articles submitted to the support group newsletter, as well as attendance at support group functions such as their annual picnic, project staff regularly interact with parents within the community who are caregiving children born prenatally exposed to alcohol and other drugs. MSACD staff also maintains regular contact with parents via the FAS Task Force of Georgia. Many presentations also have included other parents within the target audience, such as Families First Foster and Adoptive Family trainings and DFCS foster family trainings.

Examples of trainings conducted for the FAS Parent Support Group this year include:

FAS: What We Know and What is New
Cognitive Delays and Secondary Disabilities
Behavior Management: Managing the "Meltdown"

The MSACD Prevention Program conducts a minimum of 14 trainings per contract year to state agency and community-based organization professionals and community groups as requested.

The MSACD Prevention Program provides training to enable human service professionals and communities to implement maternal substance abuse prevention programs: The recipients of training and technical assistance provided by the MSACD Project includes:

New Visions Treatment Center
Atlanta Alliance for Developmental Disabilities
Georgia State University
Morris Brown University
Project Embrace
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Cobb County Department of Family and Children's Services Foster Parents Training Series
Georgia Department of Human Resources, Office of Adoptions
Centre for Excellence in Child Development, Ottawa Canada
Rockdale Hospital
Newton/Rockdale Perinatal Coalition
Veterans Administration Hospital, Atlanta, Postdoctoral Training Program in Addictions
FAS Parent Support Group
Department of Family and Children's Services of Georgia (DFCS)
Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases
Families of Children Under Stress (FOCUS)
Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Integrated Life Center
Gwinnett County Foster and Adoptive Parents Association
Kennedy Head Start Center
Child Protective Service Workers, DFCS
Sadie G. Mays Health and Rehabilitation Center
Georgia State University Project Healthy Grandparents
Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA)
Marcus Institute
Bethany Christian Services Adoption Agency
Emory University Department of Psychology
Emory University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Families First

The MSACD Prevention Program actively participates in quarterly FAS Task Force meetings.

To meet the objective of facilitating community-based processes to enhance community ability to effectively address maternal substance abuse issues, the MSACD Project participates in both the National Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Task Force as well as the Georgia Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Task Force:

Dr. Claire D. Coles of the MSACD Project represents Georgia on the National Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Task Force. Issues addressed by the National Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Task Force include facilitation of national initiatives for improvement of diagnostic processes for affected children, improving services for women and children, education of professionals, as well as evaluation of efforts of national and international agencies to prevent and treat prenatal alcohol exposure.

The MSACD Project also provides technical support and consultation via participation in regular meetings of the Georgia FAS Task Force. With other community stakeholders and the leadership of the March of Dimes, MSACD project staff participate in planning for increased community awareness, involvement, and action. Dr. Howell is currently co-chair of the Task Force, and Drs. Coles and Falek are active participants of the Task Force and its various committees. The focus of the Georgia FAS Task Force has been to further plan for and seek implementation of the best practice models for prevention, treatment and intervention.