In 2012, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health invested $1.2 million to enhance and expand services for high-risk pregnant women. These funds were used to develop three FASD prevention projects in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert.
Each of the projects collaborated with other community agencies and service delivery partners to plan and/or help deliver the program. As a result, each of the three programs were a combination of new programming and enhancement of existing services.
- The Raising Hope Moving Families Forward is a new program that was established in 2013 by Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region.
- The Intensive FASD Prevention Program (IFASDPP) started in early spring 2013 in the Saskatoon Health Region.
- Prince Albert Parkland Health Region Harm Reduction Initiative, a partnership between the Health Region and Family Futures, a community-based organization, received funds in spring 2012.
The projects brought together a range of services including: active outreach, prenatal and postnatal care, social support, addictions and mental health services, early childhood development, and paediatric rehabilitative therapies. All services were provided in a central location that was accessible to the group of women the project was intending to serve.
Currently, the projects serve about 126 women, of whom a strong majority are of First Nations descent.
A recent evaluation of this initiative looked at a range of outcomes in each community. The data from all of the program sites revealed that a number of participants from each program had:
- reduced their substance use;
- given birth to infants with no alcohol use exposure; and
- had their children return to their care.
Read the evaluation report here.
Earlier this year, the Saskatchewan government announced increased funding to support people with disabilities through enhancements to programs and services. This includes $4.2 million for intensive Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) prevention programming and community supports.
For more on FASD prevention in Saskatchewan, see earlier posts:
- FASD Awareness Day 2014 – Upcoming Events in Saskatchewan (September 4, 2014)
- Getting Ready for International FASD Awareness Day in Saskatchewan (September 6, 2013)
- What’s Your Cap? initiative featured on DrinkTank (June 17, 2013)
- Saskatchewan’s KidsFirst Program (May 23, 2011)
For more on integrated “one-stop shop” programs for high-risk pregnant women, see earlier posts:
- Impact Evaluation of the Healthy, Empowered, and Resilient (H.E.R.) Pregnancy Program in Edmonton, Alberta (February 7, 2014)
- HerWay Home Program for Pregnant Women and New Mothers in Victoria, BC (February 12, 2013)
- Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women Who Use Substances: What Communities are Doing to Help (October 1, 2012)
Girls, Women, Alcohol, and Pregnancy 