§290bb–25d Centers of Excellence on Services for Individuals with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Alcohol-related Birth Defects and Treatment for Individuals with Such Conditions and Their Families

Summary

The Secretary must fund grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to public or nonprofit groups to create up to four centers of excellence. These centers must study how to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome and related birth defects, test better clinical treatments and service systems, provide full services for affected people and families, and offer training about these conditions. Money can be used to study and adapt interventions, find and learn from communities with strong care systems, give technical help to other communities, train professionals and families about spotting and referring cases, develop ways to prevent alcohol use by women of childbearing age, and do other tasks the Secretary approves after advice from the National Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Centers must report any new prevention techniques at the end of their funding, and the Secretary must share and evaluate findings. Awards may last no more than 5 years. Congress authorized $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as needed for fiscal years 2002 and 2003.