The Parent–Child Assistance Program (PCAP) began in 1991 at the University of Washington. It is an intensive three-year one-on-one mentoring program for women at high risk of having a child born with FASD.
The first PCAP programs in Alberta started in 1999 (two in Edmonton and one in Lethbridge). In 2013, there were over 20 programs across the province that provided PCAP services.
In 2013, the Alberta PCAP Council collaborated with the ACCERT Lab and Dr. Jacquie Pei from the University of Alberta on a qualitative research project to collect the experiences of PCAP mentors. This quilting project explored the experiences of 46 women and men working in FASD prevention programs across the province.
Each participant created a square that depicted the experience of working in a PCAP program. The final quilt is comprised of 55 unique squares, each one telling one part of the story of individuals and families affected by FASD and the work of PCAP mentors to help prevent FASD.
Read more about the making of the quilt in the Alberta FASD Cross-Ministry Committee’s 2011/2012 Annual Report and in this article:
Job, J. M., Poth, C., Pei, J., Wyper, K., O’Riordan, T., and Taylor, L. (2014). Combining visual methods with focus groups: An innovative approach for capturing the multifaceted and complex work experiences of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder prevention specialists. The International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 3(1), 71-80. http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v3i1.129. (Open Access)
The quilt is “on tour” – find out where you can see the quilt by following the Alberta PCAP Council Facebook page.
Learn more about the Alberta PCAP programs here.
For more on the Parent-Child Assistance Program in Canada, see earlier posts:
- Economic Evaluation of the Parent-Child Assistance Program in Alberta, Canada (May 5, 2014)
- FASD Mentoring Programs in Canada (December 7, 2011)
Girls, Women, Alcohol, and Pregnancy 