Economic Impact of Children in Care with FASD and Parental Alcohol Issues Phase 2: Costs and Service Utilization of Health Care, Special Education, and Child Care

In the Economic Impact of Children in Care with FASD study (Fuchs, Burnside, Marchenski, Mudry, DeRiviere, 2008), the fiscal costs to the Manitoba child welfare system in 2006 for 400 permanent ward children who were FASD‐affected was estimated. The intent in Phase II of the Economic Impact Study was to broaden our understanding of the costs associated with FASD‐affected children to include the costs of health care, special education and subsidized child care services. For the purposes of comparison, a sample group of children in care with no FASD diagnosis, but who were involved with the child welfare system due to parental alcohol abuse, was created. In addition, a random sample of children from the general population was created using a random matching methodology. The children in this group were not in care and not involved with an agency due to parental alcohol misuse. The monetary value of health, education, and child care service utilization were estimated for the various comparison groups.