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Michael
Dorris | Where angels fear
to tread | Judge
Turpel-Lafond | Dan
Zakreski was punished for taking a serious look at FASD killers
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Fetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorder
- In the Klassen/Kvello case
we learned that Saskatoon policeman Brian Dueck and Social Services'
contract therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys deliberately manipulated
three FASD children to forge a career-building case against innocent
people. When we finally broke this story, we heard Justice Minister
Eric Cline state that
his department had "evolved." The lie was put to this
claim as we saw the Justice Department and Social Services scramble
to cover up another story in another part of the province where
once again, FASD damaged children had been manipulated to forge
a false case. Sarah Gibb picked up this story and has now been
nominated for a National Newspaper Award in investigative journalism
for the work she did. Frank Quennell and Joanne Crofford spoke
publicly against Gibb's article. Read
their sorry defence of their cover-up and injusticebusters' sermonette.
-- Sheila Steele, March 27, 2005
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- Congratulations Sarah
Gibb!
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FASD prevention misses
mothers at risk
researcher
Janani Gopal, The StarPhoenix, Friday, December 02, 2005
Women at-risk of giving birth
to children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) need
more support services and a relationship with their children
to help overcome their addiction, says a University of Saskatchewan
researcher.
Prevention of FASD has focused
on advertising the dangers of drinking while pregnant, and physicians'
counsel to women to decrease their alcohol consumption, says
Caroline Tait.
FASD occurs in children when
their mothers drink while pregnant, causing problems with such
things as memory, learning, speech, language, attention span
and motor skills.
"But prevention measures
haven't really targeted the women at-risk of giving birth to
children with FASD," Tait said in an interview prior to
a public lecture this week at the Frances Morrison library.
These women tend to be in their
late 20s to 30s, and may be prone to mental and physical health
problems, binge drinking, alcoholism and smoking, she says.
Because they live in poverty,
they tend to receive poor nutrition, live in unstable housing
and are susceptible to violence.
Getting treatment is frightening
for at-risk women, particularly at-risk aboriginal women, she
says, because they fear it may mean their children are taken
away from them.
"Your option is to put
your child with social services while you're in a treatment program.
But if you don't complete the program, you may not get your child
back."
When this happens, it adds
to the mother's stress and her dependence on alcohol, she says.
"Give her a relationship with her child, and you can turn
so many things around."
Women also lack access to support
and help integrating into society after treatment, Tait says.
"After 28 days, after she walks out of addiction services,
what happens to her?
"It's not a surprise to
me . . . that she turns to alcohol to numb her life."
After treatment, women should
be able to access mental health services, child care, transition
housing, employment and help with family planning, Tait says.
She adds greater co-ordination among mental health services,
addiction services and health care is needed to provide better
care to atrisk women.
The costs to care for children
with FASD and to treat women with alcoholism are significant,
Tait says, while the cost to extend more support services to
at-risk women would be comparatively minimal.
Saskatchewan Health is currently
considering treatment centres that are adapted to the specific
needs of families, says Linda Restau, director of program support
and community care.
The department may reconfigure
existing facilities to accommodate families. While current facilities
do not offer child care, reworked facilities would provide child
care to mothers receiving treatment, says Restau.
jgopalakrishnan@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Help kids with FAS early
judge
Saskatchewan News Network,
May 03, 2005
REGINA (SNN) -- Something must
be done to help children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), who
are falling through the cracks in the social, education and health
systems, before they end up in the criminal justice system, says
provincial court Judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond.
Studies indicate that 60 per
cent of young offenders coming into conflict with the law are
affected by FAS in varying degrees, Turpel-Lafond told delegates
at the Canadian Association for the Practical Study of Law in
Education conference in Regina on Monday.
"It is heartbreaking to
sit in a courtroom and see a disabled child, who has been left
in a chaotic alcoholic family and has led a life of neglect,
doesn't have a home, and has been the victim of violence and
sexual abuse, at 12 years old come before the court," she
said.
On any given day, Turpel-Lafond
said, she sees an average of five to 10 children who are affected
by FAS in her courtroom, the majority of whom have not been diagnosed.
The current rise of FAS can be tied to intergenerational trauma
and residential school experiences, the breakdown of families,
alcoholism and drug abuse and the lack of parenting skills, she
said.
People with fetal alcohol syndrome
continue to be over-represented in the courts, and they continue
to come before the courts where they are diagnosed for the first
time, Turpel-Lafond said. "And these 12 year olds that we
are getting diagnosed, the patterns that we are seeing indicates
that they may be more severely disabled than the older ones.
"Why are they not being
diagnosed until they are 12 and in my courtroom? That is a big
issue. Poor attachment by the family to health-care providers
is an issue. Poor access to diagnostic services, particularly
in the north, is a major, major issue. Poor access to pre-natal
health care is a big issue," she said, explaining support
needs to be there for pregnant moms and the families of children
with FAS.
The literature is very clear
that diagnosis under the age of two leads to a better outcome
and these young children are less likely to end up in court if
they are diagnosed early, Turpel-Lafond said.
The Saskatoon judge said she
never set out to publicly speak about FAS, but in her seven years
on the bench she was astounded by what she discovered and shocked
to learn of the prevalence of FAS in young people going through
the criminal justice system and the lack of diagnostic and support
services.
"All I know is that on
the ground every single day I have kids come before me and there
is very little I can do for them. Jail is the main therapeutic
environment for them and that is not effective. How can we have
a more therapeutic approach that meets their needs, and reduces
their risks to the community?"
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
- StarPhoenix freelance
writer nominated for nat'l award
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- Chris Zwick, The StarPhoenix,
March 26, 2005
A freelance journalist from
the StarPhoenix has been nominated for a National Newspaper Award
(NNA) for the second consecutive year.
Sarah Gibb is nominated in
the investigations category for her March 27, 2004 story on a
Saskatchewan family torn apart by allegations of sexual abuse.
"I was astonished when
I heard. I couldn't believe it. I feel very honoured," said
Gibb in an interview Friday.
Gibb's article focused on a
situation very similar to that of the Klassen family, who after
being accused of sexual assault by their foster children in the
1990's were eventually cleared of any wrong-doing.
"Sheila Steele from Injustice
Busters wrote a letter to the StarPhoenix saying that there was
another family in the same situation as the Klassens and that
sparked my curiousity," said Gibb.
The family in her article adopted
four children suffering from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
(FASD) in 1991. When allegations of sexual abuse by the two adopted
girls surfaced in 2001, authorities charged the father and two
brothers.
Gibb interviewed FASD experts
and found that children who suffer from the disorder will often
follow "non-verbal cues" from those who are interviewing
them. Gibb reported that the girls' videotaped statement was
the only evidence used to charge the father and two brothers.
"There seemed, from the
very beginning, to be a determination to bring criminal charges,
even though I felt this was not a case where criminal charges
were appropriate. The decision seemed to be made on the very
first day that the police officers started to investigate, so
I felt they had almost set themselves up for a miscarriage of
justice," said Gibb.
Gibb is competing in the investigations
category against Andrew McIntosh from the National Post for his
story into a National Defence employee who allegedly defrauded
the government. Fred Vallance-Jones and Steve Buist from the
Hamilton Spectator are also nominated for a story about an Ontario
program to keep polluting vehicles off the road.
Last year, Gibb was a runner-up
in the long features category for a story about a teenage prostitute
from Saskatoon who was abused as a child.
The awards will be held June
4 in Ottawa.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Gov't tardy in releasing FASD
strategy
Sask. Party
Jason Warick, Saskatchewan
News NetworkFebruary 23, 2005
The Saskatchewan Party wants
to know why the provincial government has still not unveiled
its Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) strategy, eight months
after it was due for release.
"They're just putting
(FASD sufferers and their families) on the back burner,"
said Sask. Party MLA June Draude.
Draude, whose bill led to the
designation of Sept. 9 as FASD Awareness Day, said the government
should be "ashamed" for its lack of action on the issue.
She said there's an urgent
need for more diagnostic services. At present, the majority of
diagnoses are provided by the staff at Saskatoon's Alvin Buckwold
Child Development Program. Staff there are so busy that wait
lists have grown to a year in some cases and satellite clinics
to other communities have been cut back.
"They are overworked.
"They don't have enough
people (to do the needed work)," she said.
Draude said a Saskatchewan
Party government would ensure Saskatoon, Regina, and Prince Albert
would have fully funded diagnostic centres.
Draude said she's spoken regularly
with health-care professionals who express concern over the issue.
Health Minister John Nilson
was not available for comment Tuesday.
FASD occurs in children when
their mothers drink while pregnant.
The list of disabilities caused
are numerous, such as hearing and vision loss, physical abnormalities
and learning disabilities.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
