This project is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s national initiative to strengthen research-to-practice linkages between the CDC FASD Practice and Implementation Centers (PICs) and practice disciplines that are well positioned to advance Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) prevention and treatment.
For this project, the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT) at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work is partnering with the National Association of Social Workers, the Council of Social Work Education, and the Texas Office for Prevention of Developmental Disabilities in a national collaboration targeting social work education and practice.
In addition to the principal investigators, the HBRT research team includes Nanette Stephens, Ph.D., training director; and Anita Prewett, project manager. Diana DiNitto, Ph.D., Rowena Fong Ph.D., and Jane Kretzschmar from the Steve Hicks School of Social Work will serve as internal advisory board members.
The project will build upon the significant research, training and dissemination efforts that HBRT, the CDC and FASD PICs have undertaken over the last two decades. Specifically, the team will:
- Provide expertise for the development and dissemination of FASD prevention & treatment training materials adapted for social workers;
- Help promote evidence-based interventions to prevent FASDs, and
- Identify and implement strategies that lead to uptake of evidence-based FASD prevention approaches at the systems level. Other national organizations partnering with CDC on this far-reaching initiative include the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS), the American Academy of Pediatrics, and theAmerican Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.