Contact:

Delilah Yao, (505) 768-0279 Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821

January 11, 2002

UNM’S CASAA PRESENTS COLLOQUIUM ON A NATIONWIDE SURVEY OF POLICY AND PRACTICES REGARDING PRENATAL DRUG EXPOSURE

The University of New Mexico’s Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions (CASAA) will host a colloquium featuring Dr. Stephen Ondersma, of Wayne State University, on “A Nationwide Survey of Policy and Practices Regarding Prenatal Drug Exposure.” The colloquium will be Thursday, Jan. 24, from 4 - 5 p.m. at CASAA, Building 2, room 110. CASAA is located at 2350 Alamo S.E.

Ondersma’s presentation will feature two nationwide surveys conducted in order to document current responses to, and beliefs regarding, prenatal drug exposure. In the first survey, child protective services supervisors were asked to describe their county’s responses to referrals of drug-exposed infants, particularly use of court petitions and initial removal of parental custody. In the second and ongoing survey, county district attorneys were asked to describe the frequency of and legal basis for prosecution of prenatal drug exposure, and to provide their perceptions of the relative dangers of various drugs of abuse. Results from each of these surveys will be described in detail and discussed in terms of the actual teratogenicity of illicit drugs, the many factors making this a complex and controversial topic and the search for appropriate policy in this area.

Ondersma is clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the Merrill-Palmer Institute at Wayne State University in Detroit. He is a graduate of Calvin College and Wayne State University, where he received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He received clinical training in pediatric psychology and child maltreatment at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He specializes in the intersection between substance abuse and parenting, and has served as director of two federally-funded programs for parents of at-risk infants.

The colloquium is free and open to the public. For more information contact Delilah Yao at 768-0279.

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The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
Hodgin Hall, 2nd floor
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
Fax: (505) 277-1981