Practical Applications for Addressing FASD in the Justice System

Billy Edwards Related Seminars and Products

Billy Edwards is considered one of the early pioneer in the training of attorneys around issues involving fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). He has worked with clients who have been diagnosed with FASD since 1998. Mr. Edwards currently works as a deputy public defender in Los Angeles and for 4 years wasassigned to the Los Angeles County Mental Health Court. Mr. Edwards successfully litigated one of the first cases in California where his client with FASD (with an I of 98, but very lowadaptive behavior skills)obtained services from the CaliforniaDepartment of Developmental Disabilities .In 2012, the NationalOrganization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS) honored Mr. Edwards withthe highest awar by placing his name intoThe Tom and LindaDaschle Fetal Alcohol SpectrumDisorder (FASD) Hallof Fame. Alsoin 2012,he helped to draft and edit the American Bar Association’s Resolution on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, which addresses the need for all people working in the criminal justice system to be aware of FASD. In 2014, he was appointed to serve on the Board of Directors with the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome based out of Washington, D.C. and, additionally, was presented in Seattle with the Dr. Ann Streissguth, Ph.D. Annual Award for Outstanding Contribution to the field of FASD and the Law, an award named after Dr. Ann Streissguth who in 1973 was the first psychologist to administer psychological testing to children that were born with FAS. In 2015, Mr. Edwards was invited to testify before the House Judiciary Standing Committee in Juneau Alaska on “Why Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders shouldbe included in the state definition of what onstitutes a developmental disability.”

Mark Regan Related Seminars and Products

Mark Regan is the Legal Director for the Disability Law Center of Alaska. The Disability Law Center of Alaska represents people with disabilities, including people on the FASD spectrum, in special education cases, Medicaid home and community-based services cases, employment and housing discrimination cases, and public assistance cases, including Social Security cases. It also investigates abuse or neglect of people with disabilities, including people on the spectrum. Mark was born in Juneau and graduated from Service High School in Anchorage. He has practiced law with Alaska Legal Services in Barrow, Anchorage, Juneau, and Bethel, and with Disability Law Center in Fairbanks and Anchorage. He represented friend-of-the-court clients in litigation defending the Medicaid expansion, which serves many people with FASD who are working and cannot get disability-based assistance, or who are disabled but have not been able to get Social Security to recognize this.

Judge Michael Jeffery Related Seminars and Products

Judge Michael I. Jeffery (ret.) served as the first Superior Court Judge in Barrow, Alaska from1982 until his retirement at age 70 in December 2014. His court’s jurisdiction included the entire North Slope Borough. He had moved to Barrow in January 1977 to establish Barrow’s Alaska Legal Services office. He had just returned from almost 5 years in North India. He became energized about the far-reaching effects of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder on the justice system after an inspirational week-long FASD conference in Barrow in 1996. He has attended numerous FASD trainings, including the 4-Digit Diagnostic Code training from the University of Washington, and most recently from the White crow Village Society in Canada. He has presented about his efforts to adapt to FASD in the courtroom in Alaska, in other states and in Vancouver, B.C. His efforts have been recognized in Alaska media and in local and statewide awards. His publications include “An Arctic Judge’s Journey with FASD,” published by the Journal of Psychiatry and Law in 2010.He serves on the Steering Committee of the Alaska FASD Partnership, on the FASD Work group of the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities and Special Education, and on the Alaska Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. He is a certified FASD 101 trainer and a Surrogate Parent for the North Slope Borough School District’s special education program. In 2016, he co-wrote with Teri Tibbett a chapter entitled “Smart Justice and FASD in Alaska: From Prevention to Sentence Mitigation” for the Springer publication Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in Adults: Ethical and Legal Perspectives. He and his wife Esther continue to live in Barrow, where Esther is the School Nurse. They have three grown children living in San Francisco and Anchorage. The family does commercial salmon set net fishing in Bristol Bay each summer. His formal education includes degrees from Stanford University and the Yale Law School, where he was on the Board of Editors of the Yale Law Journal. He is active in his faith community as an Elder and choir member, Barrow’s Rotary Club, and the Barrow Eskimo Dance Group.

Vickie Tinker Related Seminars and Products

Vickie Tinker is the Coordinator of the Kenai Peninsula FASD Diagnostic Program and the accompanying Developmental Clinic. She has been with the team since 2002. She provides FASD education around the State and is an FASD 101 and 201 Trainer. She has designed and presented FASD trainings specifically for DJJ and adult probation staff. She sits on several local boards, including the Kenai Peninsula Youth Facility Advisory Board. She is a member of the Alaska FASD Partnership Steering Committee. The Kenai Peninsula FASD Diagnostic Team is one of the most active in the State and has remained stable since its formation in 2001, with many of the original team members still participating. The Developmental Clinic specializes in individuals with FASD and complex emotional trauma and is on the cutting edge of addressing these two issues together in a clinical setting.

Meg Zaletel Related Seminars and Products

Deb Evensen, MA Related Seminars and Products

Deb Evensen, MA is a internationally-recognized FASD consultant, master teacher, and behavior specialist with more than 40 years’ experience teaching and developing programs for individuals with highly challenging behaviors. Her range of teaching experience includes students with cognitive impairments to those with highly gifted abilities in grades K-12, as well as adult life. She worked with her first student with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in 1982 and has been a pioneer in discovering practical solutions that work for individuals with FASD. She has the unique perspective of one who has spent thousands of hours helping to develop programs and problem solve solutions for children, adolescents and adults with FASD in schools and communities throughout Alaska, United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the Ukraine. Through the years Deb, has received many awards and was the inaugural recipient of Alaska’s “Vision, Leadership, and Commitment to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome” in 2001.In 2016, Deb is working on projects in Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48. She is the consultant working with the first school districts in North America attempting to improve their capacity to deal with the challenges of students with FASD in every grade level and every program: Anchorage School District and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. Deb is driven by the belief that the Alaskan frontier spirit and attitude provides an opportunity for us to solve the extreme challenges of FASD at a grassroots level that may appear unsolvable from a greater distance. She believes that by working together to serve people living with FASD today, we are working toward a future where this disability no longer exists.

Kate Sumey, MA Related Seminars and Products

Kate Sumey, MA is a lifelong Alaskan and graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a Master’s in Justice Administration; she has an undergraduate degree in Justice (BA) and Human Services (AAS) with a minor in psychology. Ms. Sumey has over seventeen years of experience working with individuals with mental health disorders. For the past twelve years she has worked with specialized diversion programs that divert mentally ill offenders from the criminal justice system into needed treatment and support services in the community. She is currently the project manager for the Anchorage Coordinated Resources Project (mental health court), a diversion program that focuses on identifying risk areas and treating the underlying problem areas that contribute to criminal involvement. She is a criminal justice instructor at Central Texas College, a college that caters to active duty military and dependents—part of the focus of this criminal justice program is examining the challenges that returning offenders experience when they reenter society after incarceration (difficulties with housing, employment, relationships, etc.).

L. Diane Casto Related Seminars and Products

Shannon Cross, LCSW Related Seminars and Products

Shannon Cross, LCSW, received her Master in Social Work from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1995, where her emphasis was on mental health. Prior to moving to Alaska, Shannon had over 16 years of experience working in Residential Psychiatric Treatment Centers (RPTCs) where the last 5 years of this experience were spent helping to create and develop RPTC treatment programs specific for individuals who experience FASDs. Shannon's work has focused on being an advocate and as a treatment provider who strives to develop creative treatment plans that focus on the individual’s strength and innovative treatment interventions aimed at helping each individual find their own success. Much of her focus in RPTCs also revolved around how to successfully transition youth back into their homes and communities. Shannon worked part-time as an outpatient therapist for 5 years for children, adolescents and young adults and their families at Good Samaritan Counseling. Shannon worked for Department of Behavioral Health on the RPTC/FASD waiver where she collaborated with community mental health agencies to better serve individuals who experience FASDs in the community. Shannon currently works for Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) as the Clinical Director. She has played an integral part of training staff and implementing Trauma Informed Care throughout DJJ.

Gina Schumaker Related Seminars and Products

Gina Schumaker is a 50-year-old woman living with FASD and ADHD. Recently diagnosed. She has found it cathartic to share her story .She doesn't define herself by these diagnosis. Gina is a wife, mother, grandmother and friend. She loves gardening hiking and biking .She moved to Alaska from Florida 25 years ago. Gina was one of the first in her family to graduate high school. She has been a foster mom to teenage girls. She hopes to raise awareness and educate others on the topic from prevention to protection, for early diagnosis and implementing programs for adults with FASD.

Deborah Wilson, Ed. D. Related Seminars and Products

Deborah J. Wilson Ed.D., holds a BS in Special Education, a MS in Psychology and another MS in Guidance. Her Doctorate is in Education with specialty in Special Education and Related Services. Dr. Wilson is retired from the public school system and currently works as an independent consultant/school psychologist. Dr. Wilson has spent the last forty years working with children and adults including working with families to meet the needs of their children. This work has included but is not limited to, clinical associate in a crisis stabilization unit/adult detox program, educational psychologist for two youth detention centers, school parapsychologist centers for youth and adults, and of course, her role as a school psychologist for the public school system in multiple states. Dr. Wilson was trained by Sterling Clarren at the University of Washington as part of the Alaska Native Medical Associations first FASD team and, was a liaison with the Anchorage School District regarding FASD during the districts initial focus on FASD. Dr. Wilson is also a therapeutic foster parent that specializes in children with FASD.

Christie Reinhardt Related Seminars and Products

Christie Reinhardt graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in Psychology and Economics and after that did a wide variety of jobs; caterer, chef, art dealer, writer’s assistant, English language teacher...It was a personal experience that brought her to the world of disability advocacy. In 2001, she adopted a newborn baby boy and was a very proud and busy stay-at-home mom. While he developed on target in many ways, by his first birthday, her son was showing signs of unusual and aggressive behaviors. His differences grew, and by kindergarten, Christie was homeschooling and looking for answers. At age 6, he was finally diagnosed high-functioning autism. Before the ink was dry on the report, they moved from New York City to Alaska. On the way across country, her son "fired" her as his home-school teacher and told her that once they grotto Alaska, he was going to attend public school and it was her job to help him make it work. In Alaska, her son started at his neighborhood school and received an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and outside of school they started various therapies that build a team of supports. Christie had a steep learning curve, but threw her energies into finding out as much as she could about special education and autism interventions. She started participating in online chat groups with other parents of children with autism and behavioral concerns, where she discovered that helping others came easily and naturally to her. In 2007 she "went pro" and began working for Stone Soup Group as a special education Parent Navigator, and eventually as a Program Manager. After leaving Stone Soup, she provided training and support to foster parents and trained with Diane Malbin to be an FASD into Action Trainer. Now she is in her dream job at the Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education, working with stakeholders as they monitor and improve state special education, early intervention, FASD and autism systems. Her son, now a tall, funny, smart and engaging high-schooler, told her the other day, "You know Mom, without me, you would not have all this great work to do. Without me, you would never have found what you wanted to be." She wholeheartedly agrees.

Teri Tibbett Related Seminars and Products

Teri Tibbett is the advocacy coordinator for the Alaska Mental Health Board and Advisory Board on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, and works closely with the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority in coordinating their joint advocacy effort with the partner advisory boards. In this role, she works with people impacted by mental illness, substance use disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, traumatic brain injury, developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, to facilitate better understanding and participation in the public process. Teri also serves as coordinator for the Alaska Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Partnership, a statewide grassroots advocacy organization, and is a steering team member of the Juneau Reentry Coalition, for which she serves as chair of the Behavioral Health & Wellness Work group. She is currently serving on a statewide work group tasked with implementing the integration of criminal justice and Medicaid reforms passed by the legislature in 2016. For ten years, Teri served as a legislative aide with the Alaska State Legislature and continues to work on legislative issues. In 2016, she co-wrote with Judge Michael Jeffery a chapter entitled “Smart Justice and FASD in Alaska: From Prevention to Sentence Mitigation” for the Springer publication Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in Adults: Ethical and Legal Perspectives. She holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree and is a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.