MI- District court considers program to prevent repeat offenses by those with fetal-alcohol syndrome

5-18-2008 Michigan:

GRAND RAPIDS -- A court in Seattle was the first in the country to create a program aimed at helping fetal alcohol children avoid repeated violations of the law.

A court in Grand Rapids might become the second.

Kathryn Kelly, a project director at the University of Washington's Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit, met with Kent County District Court officials last month about setting up a program modeled after Seattle's.

The Seattle program -- involving judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, social workers and others -- recognizes the disability as a form of brain damage that makes its sufferers more likely to end up in court and in prison.

"Incarceration is not a cure," Kent County 61st District Judge Patrick Bowler said. "Hopefully, with the kind of community-based resources that we have, perhaps it will open the door to treatment and break the cycle of crime."

The program would be like drug court or sobriety court, offering counseling and social services for defendants diagnosed with or suspected of having a fetal alcohol disorder, aimed at helping them avoid a repeat of their crimes.

One of every 100 babies is born with brain damage because the mother drank during pregnancy, Kelly said. In the most severe cases, the children have visible abnormalities, including a flattish face, thin upper lip, small eye openings and no groove between the mouth and nose.

Most others exhibit no outward physical signs, but CAT scans show brain damage, which can impede memory and cause them to act impulsively without considering the consequences. Many have trouble keeping appointments, holding jobs or functioning in socially acceptable ways.

"When you're looking at someone with fetal alcohol syndrome disorder," Bowler said, "you're looking at someone who is a victim themselves."

Kelly, a former state and federal probation officer in California, said: "I was amazed by the lack of knowledge in the criminal justice system about this disability. These aren't career criminals. They aren't career anything. They simply can't manage their lives. They need help, and that's to the community's benefit, too. It's a lot cheaper than paying for prisons."

Kent County was chosen as a possible location for the program, she said, in part because Spectrum Health has a prenatal alcohol exposure clinic. If a New York-based foundation comes through with start-up money, the program could be up and running by this fall, Kelly said.

Because people with a fetal alcohol disorder are impulsive and easily led astray by others, they have difficulty connecting the punishment with the crime and, therefore, are more apt to repeat it, said Barbara Wybrecht, a fetal alcohol specialist at Spectrum Health.

Early diagnosis and intervention can help them avoid future problems, she said.

"You can punish them forever to death, and they're not going to get it," Wybrecht said. "The whole idea of people with cognitive disorders being held to the letter of the law is ludicrous." ..more.. by Pat Shellenbarger | The Grand Rapids Press