Women / Children

Listed below (alphabetically) are links to agencies and programs that promote strategies that support healthy lifestyles. The programs listed below target a broad audience, including individuals and families affected by misuse of alcohol and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

  • Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR).
    DASA is a state Agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (DSHS). DASA promotes strategies that support health lifestyles by preventing the misuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, and support recovery from the disease of chemical dependency. This is achieved through prevention, research, training, and treatment. DASA has voluntarily served as the program chair of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Interagency Workgroup (FASIAWG) since it's inception in 1995, to ensure continued development and implementation of FASD services statewide.

  • First Steps Program, Department of Social and Health Services.
    The goal of the First Steps Program, authorized by the maternity Care Access Act of 1989, is to provide "maternity care necessary to ensure health birth outcomes for low-income families." The legislation called for removal of unnecessary barriers to receiving prenatal care and provided for increased access to care and expanded Medicaid services for low-income pregnant women. First Steps is administered through the Medical Assistance Administration in the Department of Social and Health Services.

  • Healthy Communities Washington, Department of Health.
    The Office of Healthy Communities, within the Department of Health, works to protect and improve the health of people in Washington. The Office aims to make the healthy choice the easy choice in our homes, communities, workplaces, health care settings, and schools. Healthy Communities Washington's goal is to increase the number of people in Washington who are healthy at every stage of life. Specific programs that focus on children are: CHILD Profile which focuses on health concerns that affect youth from birth to 21 years of age; and Children with Special Health Care Needs Program that serves children and youth who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, development, behavioral, or emotional condition and who also require health and related service of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally. The Office also maintains Substance Abuse during Pregnancy: Guidelines for Screening, a best practice guide for prenatal care providers. Prevention messages are included in the Department's pregnancy and women's health portal pages.

  • Parent Child Assistance Program (PCAP) Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit.
    PCAP is a model of intensive, long-term, paraprofessional advocacy with high-risk mothers who abuse alcohol or drugs heavily during pregnancy and are estranged from community service providers. The primary goal of PCAP is to prevent alcohol and drug exposure among the future children of these mothers. PCAP was established in 1991 and is a program within the Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit at the University of Washington.

  • Safe Babies, Safe Moms, Department of Social and Health Services.
    Safe Babies, Safe Moms (formerly the Comprehensive Program Evaluation Project or CPEP) seeks to improve the health and welfare of substance abusing mothers and their young children. The project attempts to improve long-term outcomes for the families and represents an investment in their future. The comprehensive services offered to substance abusing mothers who are prenatal and/or parenting children under age 2 years include: Targeted Intensive Case Management (TICM), Residential/Outpatient Chemical Dependency (CD) Treatment, Housing Support Services for Transitional Housing, Parenting Education, and Child Development Assessments and Referrals..


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