The impact MOFAS has made for the people of Minnesota last year has been significant: 90% of health care providers in Minnesota were reached by the public awareness campaign which encouraged them to educate their patients about the risks of alcohol use during pregnancy. 3700 pregnant women attended educational events focusing on how to have an alcohol free pregnancy. Over 1000 parents and children all around Minnesota attended family support activities and programs. And close to 4000 children have been screened for prenatal exposure to alcohol through a specialized program at the Minneapolis Public Schools. This effort has been so successful that it is being expanded to school districts across the state. With our core professional education training program, over 2300 health care workers, social workers, educators and chemical dependency specialists have received training from MOFAS to make sure they are effectively serving their clients and to assure that FASD is better understood. In order to continue to truly understand children who have been prenatally exposed to alcohol, MOFAS works closely with 16 diagnostic clinics across the state who last year diagnosed close to 550 children with an FASD. And last year, each month over 600 pregnant women screened for alcohol use were given a positive counseling message by their healthcare provider because of a statewide screening program available through MOFAS. MOFAS seeks to reach all Minnesotans and also works to change systems that impact both child-bearing aged women and their families and individuals with an FASD and their families.

The goals of MOFAS remain constant: to cultivate a large and consistent public acknowledgement that drinking while you are pregnant may cause permanent brain damage to the baby and to create clear, meaningful and effective pathways for families and individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. The strategies we will be focusing on will be to work closely with two partners including the liquor industry and the health care industry. Our message of “049” zero alcohol for nine months, comes across in a new and meaningful way when partnering with this group. As importantly, our goal this year is to work with the health care industry to educate health care providers in Minnesota about the same “049” message and work with the various systems to incorporate a consistent message to patients. The second part of our work is focused on creating pathways for people living with FASD. Because their lifelong disability is misunderstood and often misdiagnosed, children and adults with prenatal exposure to alcohol often end up disenfranchised from the very “systems” that are supposed to be working with them to meet their needs and help them live successful, and productive lives. In order to reverse that outcome, MOFAS works through a variety of methods including plans for increasing our diagnostic capacity, identifying and improving existing system pathways, and direct family support activities such as retreats and support groups, MOFAS is making a profound difference in the lives of the thousands of Minnesotans who are dealing with this issue every day.

The Minnesota Organization for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is committed to serving and supporting a wide variety of audiences including professionals, families, caregivers and individuals with information on the prevention and treatment of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

The Minnesota Organization for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the leading voice and resource for FASD throughout Minnesota.