This morning, at an online event hosted by FASD-CAN Inc,
Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey launched the
Government’s new Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
Action Plan.
The three-year strategy focuses on
preventing FASD, improving diagnosis and support, and
strengthening services for affected families. The Minister
acknowledged FASD-CAN and its dedicated mahi in Aotearoa in
advocating, supporting, and training those with FASD, their
whānau / families, as well as cross-sector
professionals.
The FASD Action Plan sets intentions
around prevention of FASD, improving support for individuals
and families, and building a stronger workforce to respond
more effectively. The plan includes targeted,
community-based programmes for early assessment, diagnosis,
and intervention and emphasises cross-sector collaboration
across health, social services, education and justice. There
is a commitment to review the plan in three years, once more
data has been gathered and better data is
available.
Click
here to read the FASD Action Plan 2025-2028 here:
https://www.health.govt.nz/publications/fetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorder-action-plan-2025-2028
Funding
announcement
Funding for key initiatives announced
today by the Minister totalled $7.25 million. This included
$600K annually for FASD-CAN to fund more of their essential
community-led FASD navigators, and also TĪtoki, their
Individuals Development Programme which helps rangatahi and
adults with FASD stay connected, build life skills and
achieve their goals.
Tītoki – Individuals
Development Programme and the 8 Key Messages
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The
online event today showcased the important mahi this
programme is achieving in supporting rangatahi with FASD to
understand and advocate for themselves, and to connect with
their peers. A short video was shown alongside the eight
‘key messages’ the leaders of the programme have been
working on over the past months – and feedback was
extremely positive.
Byron Jones, kaiārahi / leader of
Tītoki, said, “We want people to become more
understanding of what life is like for people who have FASD,
and we want those who work with us to be more compassionate
of our brain differences and realise why we need more
support.”
The
eight key message the Tītoki team has devised can be seen
here:
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/fasdcan/pages/5350/attachments/original/1757374541/8-key-messages-plus-final.pdf?1757374541
The
importance of FASD-informed education
FASD-CAN CEO
Stephanie James-Sadler said, “FASD affects between 3-5% of
babies born every year, so steps to support prevention is
are enormously important. But approximately 56,000 people
under 18 years old are currently living with FASD – and
that’s where we focus our mahi.
“FASD impacts
people across a range of areas. Disengagement from the
education system due to lack of investment in FASD-informed
practice leads all too often to mental health challenges,
substance misuse, lack of employment, interaction with the
criminal justice system and suicide. As education is a key
baseline indicator for healthy outcomes for those with FASD,
we hope particularly to see more involvement from the
Ministry of Education in their commitment to this plan and
its actions as it is rolled out.”
Disability
Support Services (DSS) funding and mental
health
FASD-CAN welcomes the launch of the new FASD
Action Plan and the funding for their mahi, and sees it as
an important next step in awareness and support for those
impacted by FASD. The organisation looks forward to what
eventuates from these priorities as they roll out in years
two and three.
However, they are disappointed that
once again there hasn’t been an intention to have a
credible conversation to look at the eligibility of the
Disability Support Services (DSS) to include those with
FASD. Lack of access to DSS was named as a breach of human
rights in 2021 by then-Children’s Commissioner Paula
Tesoriero. As long as this barrier to meaningful financial
support endures, so will disparity and injustice for those
impacted by FASD.
They also look forward to seeing
more initiatives and actions relating to mental health
services for individuals with FASD. They are disportionately
affected by these issues due to impacts across so many other
areas of their lives.
FASD-CAN will continue to
advocate for the needs of those impacted by FASD, and the
parents, caregivers and whānau who support
them.
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