Publications

Individuals with FASD are over-represented within the justice system and have significant employment challenges. The primary aim of this scoping review was to ascertain available employment resources for FASD individuals particularly those involved in the justice system. Secondary aims were to determine available evidence-based interventions for the justice workforce and employment providers.

FASD is a high prevalence but underdiagnosed group of disorders affecting between 17 and 36% of individuals in criminal justice settings. Little research has been completed on how to best support individuals with these conditions in criminal justice settings. This article proposes a renewed focus on applying and adapting the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) approach to individuals with FASD in criminal justice settings. This will assist in better determining the needs and interventions likely to effect change and reduce recidivism for this prominent criminal justice-based population. The RNR approach has been used with multiple corrections populations to determine the need and most appropriate interventions, as well as how to best allocate scarce resources. As the prevalence of FASD becomes better understood and recognized, evidence-based approaches to addressing this specific sub-population are necessary to effect change and reduce recidivism and ongoing involvement in the criminal justice system.

This study explored whether the effectiveness of practice change intervention on provision of antenatal care addsing alcohol consumpmption differed between subgroups of pregnant women and types and location of maternity services. These exploratory results suggest that the intervention may have had similar effects between different subgroups of women and types and location of services, with the exception of women who were non-Aboriginal and women who had not consumed alcohol, for whom the intervention was potentially more effective.

This study aims to improve understanding of criminogenic risk factors, particularly the role of informant-rated executive functioning in the age of offending onset among young people. the study reviewed 100 file records to gather information on criminogenic factors (out-of-home care, adverse childhood experiences, school disengagement, negative peer association, age of substance use onset), and found only age of substance use onset to be a significant predictor of age of offending onset.

Consequences for children born with birth defects and developmental disabilities encompassed by FASD are profound, affecting all areas of social, behavioural and cognitive functioning. Given the strong evidence for a core deficit in executive functioning, underpinned by impaired self-regulation skills, there has been a growing focus on the development of interventions that enhance or support the development of executive functions. This review aims to synthesise the evidence for structured psychological interventions that explicitly aim to improve executive function in children. The review also sought to ascertain if the effectiveness of interventions were influenced by characteristics of the intervention, participants or type of executive function targeted by the intervention.

This study captures an international perspective on current FASD diagnostic criteria, as well as potential barriers and facilitators towards a globally unified approach to FASD diagnosis. A lack of collaboration was identified as a key barrier, while strong leadership in guideline creation and implementation emerged as a central facilitator. These barriers and facilitators can be used to guide future collaborative efforts towards implementing consistent diagnostic criteria.