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National Association of FASD State Coordinators
To support State-based efforts, the FASD Center for Excellence (CFE) helped establish the National Association of FASD State Coordinators (NAFSC) in 2003. NAFSC’s mission is to promote prevention, treatment, and care systems for FASD, nationwide, through collaboration with systems within the FASD State Coordinators‘ respective States and among member States. The group meets quarterly—three teleconferences and one face-to-face meeting a year—and seeks to:
- Provide information, resources, and support to individuals involved in FASD efforts at the State level.
- Identify and share models for FASD prevention and treatment.
- Establish and maintain a national identity for FASD.
- Advocate for all States to have a designated FASD Coordinator.
- Educate families, providers, researchers, and policymakers on FASD.
- Establish partnerships on a national and grassroots level.
Twenty-eight States, the District of Columbia, and Navajo Nation have officially designated FASD Coordinators.
Recent State Activities
At each NAFSC teleconference or meeting, members provide updates of prevention, intervention, and legislative activities related to FASD in their States. NAFSC members reported the following activities as part of the April 2012 meeting:
- Planned and provided trainings on FASD at family support groups, Child Protective and Welfare Services agencies, universities, chemical dependency treatment facilities, and other locations.
- Took steps to revitalize FASD State task forces (or other statewide group charged with planning and/or oversight of activities related to FASD) in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Maine, and North Carolina.
- Convened statewide task forces (or other statewide group charged with planning and/or oversight of activities related to FASD) to move the State‘s FASD agenda forward. Task force activity noted in Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts (their first meeting!), Michigan, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington.
- Oversaw projects to:
- Create a training of trainers’ curriculum.
- Collaborate to get prenatal alcohol exposure screening in clinics and to train medical assistants and health educators on the Project CHOICES brief intervention.
- Oversee an FASD diagnostic and intervention clinic.
- Develop, revise, and implement State plans.
- Coordinate with a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Regional Training Center to educate allied healthcare professionals and integrate FASD information into professional curricula.
- Participate in various coalitions and committees including an expert panel for special needs for infants at local hospitals, a women’s substance abuse treatment and prevention committee, and others.
- Provide a training of trainers for parents of individuals with an FASD.
- Start a State NOFAS chapter.
- Promote text4baby program to local agencies and partners to disseminate appropriate health-related text messages to pregnant women and new mothers.
- Deliver FASD prevention materials to OB/GYN physicians through office managers.
- Collect data on FASD diagnoses in the State.
- Institute statewide screening of all pregnant women for alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and abuse.
- Support media campaigns and Web sites about FASD.
- Facilitate a pilot for FASD screening of youth entering foster care.
- Propose legislation related to alcohol signage.
- Develop training modules with referral information for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) sites to use with at-risk women.
- Conduct a 2-day conference on FASD for almost 100 people.
- Sought funding through grants and proposals.
Review NAFSC State-specific updates.
General Process for Nominating a State Coordinator
Individuals interested in formalizing a Coordinator position in their State must submit a letter with the following information in support of their designation:
- Information about the statewide Task Force (if applicable).
- Information on the particular division, agency, and department that the designated individual works for and their job responsibilities as they relate to FASD.
- Discussion of why it is important to have the identified individual designated in this role, including benefits to the State.
- Contact information for the designated individual.
This information should be submitted to Jerome Romero, chair of NAFSC. Mr. Romero is the New Mexico State Coordinator and has served as chair of NAFSC since its inception in 2003. He may be contacted for additional information.
Mr. Romero's contact information.
A detailed outline for a State Coordinator designation letter. 
Information on how having an FASD State Coordinator and participating in NAFSC benefits States.
Additional Resources Regarding NAFSC Members and Membership
Breakdown of Where Coordinators are Seated
Alcohol and Drug Abuse: CA, ME, NY, OH, PA, SD, WI
Health (Public, Maternal, Child, Family, Senior): AL, DC, HI, IN, KS, MD, MI, NV, NJ
Mental/Behavioral Health: AK, MS, Navajo Nation, WA, WV
Mental Health/Substance Abuse/Developmental Disabilities: NC
Prevention of Developmental Disabilities: TX
Other/Non-profit: AZ, FL, IL, KY, MA
Universities: CO, NM
NAFSC Special Projects and Subcommittees
In addition to the work each Coordinator oversees at the State level, NAFSC members also work together on special project subcommittees in support of the group’s goals. As of 4th Quarter 2012, subcommittees are:
- Pregnancy Kit Labeling Subcommittee. This subcommittee is tasked with following up on action begun by the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) related to getting warning labels included in pregnancy test kits.
- Primary Care Subcommittee. This subcommittee is tasked with formulating an effective method for approaching primary care providers and physician organizations (e.g., Ob/Gyn’s, ACOG, AAP, family practitioners, etc.) to raise their FASD awareness and encourage their assistance with educating and referring patients. A subgroup of the subcommittee will look into this task as it relates to Native populations.
- Non-Profit Subcommittee. This subcommittee is tasked with looking into establishing non-profit status for NAFSC, in order to maintain its existence after the SAMHSA FASD CFE’s funding ends.
- FASD Awareness Day. This subcommittee is tasked with collaborating on a group activity for FASD Awareness Day. Members have not yet met.
- The SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, referral and treatment) Learning Community will share information about Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement for SBIRT. Members have not yet met.
In addition to current subcommittee work, NAFSC members have also:
- Mentored States without FASD Coordinators.
- Provided trainings on the benefits of having and how to establish a statewide FASD Coordinator.
- Reached out to SAMHSA FASD CFE-affiliated groups to incorporate birth mothers and FASD self advocates in work within their States.
- Created documents to support work related to FASD (i.e. resource list, reporting templates).
Contact Information for NAFSC Chair and Vice Chair
Jerome Romero (NAFSC Chair)
Principal Investigator
University of New Mexico
Statewide Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Program
2650 Yale Boulevard, SE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
Phone: 505-925-2302
Fax: 505-925-2313
E-mail: aggie@unm.edu
Margo Singer, MPA (NAFSC Vice Chair)
Addictions Program Specialist II
New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
1450 Western Avenue
Albany, NY 12203
Phone: 518-457-4384
Fax: 518-485-9480
E-mail: margosinger@oasas.ny.gov
How Having an FASD State Coordinator and Participating in NAFSC Benefit States
Having an FASD State Coordinator:
- Provides a dedicated position to lead and focus FASD efforts.
- Provides a single point-of-contact to work with families and professionals on FASD issues.
- Provides someone to represent the State on issues related to FASD, present on FASD at conferences, implement statewide projects, and lead general awareness-raising activities.
Participating in NAFSC:
- Provides opportunities to share knowledge, expertise, experiences, and resources among States on FASD funding, policy, prevention strategies and related activities.
- Provides opportunities to obtain feedback on different training materials and prevention and treatment curricula.
- Provides information on the many ways State FAS programs are conducted and maintained.
- Offers insight on current research and knowledge of the prevention of FASD, best practices, and potential funding opportunities.
- Fosters "out of the box" thinking on strategies for identifying funding resources, obtaining legislation to promote FASD awareness, and identifying opportunities for service delivery system enhancements.
- Provides mentoring support from a network of peers facing similar challenges.
- Provides a list of people who can act as consultants and advocates for implementing policy.
- Helps to validate work to State governments and to bring fresh ideas to enhance work.
- Provides information useful for developing long-range plans (e.g., how other States use grant funds to enhance their efforts).
- Provides information on successful program efforts that can be replicated.