COFAS, funded by the Colorado Division of Human Service Division of Behavioral Health, aims to educate the Colorado population about the risks associated with drinking and unprotected intercourse and drinking during pregnancy as well as increasing health care providers' skills around prevention, screening, identification and intervention of risk drinking behaviors.

Provides at-risk women with resources, prevention intervention, and case management as well as education on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, their symptoms, treatment and prevention.

Provides training for individuals in need of assistance with a child, partner or friend with a substance abuse problem and/or prenatal alcohol or drug exposure as well as assistance for schools, professionals, or employers who need education on FASD.

Provides training for professionals who need assistance with a substance.

Program inception date:

In 1996 the University of Colorado developed the statewide Colorado FASD/ATOD Substances prevention outreach project, now known as COFAS.  COFAS is a statewide fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and prenatal substance abuse prevention outreach program housed within the Colorado AHEC at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.  The COFAS program was funded due to the increasing rates of women drinking during childbearing age in Colorado, combined with the lack of providers' skills around identification and screening of risk drinking behaviors, lack of skills in addressing women's substance use behaviors and lack of information on how and where to refer women for treatment or intervention services.

Program highlights:

For the Community: COFAS is working at a statewide level to increase community readiness around the prevention of FASD and other Prenatal drug exposure, increasing signage and other materials within each region of the state.  We will be offering the training-of-trainers FASD course that will be offered beginning Winter 2012 to help ensure broader prevention efforts across the state.

For the Provider: COFAS has a statewide focus providing training and technical assistance around the state to health and human service providers wanting to increase their skills and knowledge around FASD  and other prenatal drug prevention, intervention and treatment.  In addition, we offer a training-of-trainers FASD course that will be offered beginning Winter 2012.

For the Student:  COFAS continues to offer mentoring in this area of expertise to students who are interested in information, working on various projects or working to create scholarly work.

Program objective:

Short term outcomes:

• Increased knowledge of alcohol consumption and negative impacts (i.e., FASD) among high-risk women of childbearing age
• Increased knowledge of diagnostic methods and screening tools
• Increased knowledge of the provider's role and opportunities for early intervention and/or prevention
• Increased knowledge of referral assistance and support and appropriate referral base within community
• Increased community FASD prevention within all five AHEC regions

Intermediate term outcomes:

• Increased use of diagnostic methods and screening tools
• Increased skill in identification, referral and brief intervention
• Improved attitudes by providers toward high-risk women actively participating in brief intervention
• Improved practice of engagement with high-risk women of childbearing age
• Improved FASD prevention in each of the five AHEC regions

Long term outcomes:

• Improved overall care of alcohol-using/abusing women
• Increased prevention of future deterioration of alcohol-affected child

Program length: On- going

Area of expertise:

Substance Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment.  Clinical Doctorate in Nursing with a background in substance abuse prevention, intervention and treatment as well as case management of the alcohol using/abusing women of childbearing age.