With funding for two major projects set to end in the spring, the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society of the Yukon (FASSY) may be left in the financial lurch by March.

The Whitehorse-based organization provides support and services to about 60 adults living with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). It has been running programs with funds from two federal government grants.

The money was given to the organization to run two pilot projects.

One project dealt with homelessness and the other with the victimization of women.

'We knew going in that they were time-limited,' FASSY's executive director, Judy Pakozdy, said in an interview last month. 'The federal government doesn't provide front-line services and (both projects) focused on front-line services.

'The federal government paid to prove that this is how it works. Now they expect the provinces and territories to take up the front-line service costs.'

FASSY's federal funding will run out at the end of March.

Funding for the women's victimization program came through the National Crime Prevention Centre by way of a research grant.

While this funding expired in December, the territorial government has said it will help to pick up the tab until March, according to John Greschner, the deputy minister of Health and Social Services.

The National Crime Prevention Centre funds projects that test different approaches to crime prevention, according to senior program officer Linda Casson Hare.

'Our strategy funds projects not ongoing programming or services because the delivery of frontline service to people with mental health is territorial,' she explained.

'We were created to test what works in crime prevention and to reduce crime in Canada. That's our raison d'etre.'

The project provided a great amount of knowledge and insight into how to deal with the complexities of issues that women living with FASD face, she said.

The department's mandate is not, however, to provide long-term funding for frontline services, she explained.

The next step for FASSY's funding is unclear to the territorial Department of Health and Social Services at this point as well, according to Greschner.

'The bottom-line here is that we don't know,' he said about extended federal funding.

It is not accurate to say the federal government cannot fund frontline services, he said. The issue is more complex and depends on the types of services an organization is looking to provide, he added.

'If you're talking about homelessness, there are different traditional roles than there are, for example, in health,' he said.

'The federal government has traditionally had all kinds of housing programs and provided money for social housing.'

The territorial government does provide FASSY with some core funding, he noted, for their basic support program and for assessing people with FASD.

In terms of long-term funding for the two existing projects, involving victimization of women and homelessness, however, the future is unclear, he said.

'This is a bit of a problem with this federal project funding. It gets things started that then become part of a local landscape,' Greschner said. 'Then the funding disappears.'

The organization has applied for funding from a variety of places, Pakozdy said so far, to no avail.

Within the Yukon, FASSY has contacted Health and Social Services when former minister Peter Jenkins was in charge of the portfolio; Justice; Education Minister John Edzerza; and the Council of Yukon First Nations.

During a community consultation, FASSY and 18 of its clients also spoke to Premier Dennis Fentie, Pakozdy said.

While the territory does provide some front-line services for people with FASD, Pakozdy said, it is usually necessary to have a formal diagnosis.

'Without a diagnosis, it's unlikely you're going to get onto the case load. Because nobody from the school system has been diagnosed for a long time, there's not many people out there with a diagnosis,' she explained.

The organization was given territorial funds to diagnose 15 adults last year and it stretched the funds to cover 17 people, Pakozdy said.

FASSY helps to provide support and services to people living with FASD that are leading-edge, according to Greschner.

'We have a level of services here that other provinces and territories really envy and a lot of that has to do with the initiative that that organization has taken,' he said.

FASSY should not be concerned about having to close its doors, he added.

'I don't see the organization itself in danger of surviving and the services they provide are very important,' he said.

'If this federal funding doesn't continue, then we'll have to take a look at what other sources of funding there are. Part of our taking a look at that will be what (the territorial government) can do,' Greschner said.

'I don't think there is any imminent danger of anything having to close down.'

The FASSY program on homelessness might see a new influx of federal funds, he said, as the federal government recently promised to extend funding for another year.

It will be up to community groups to set the priorities on how the new money for homelessness will be spent, according to federal government city facilitator Derek Brackley.

As soon as the money has been allocated to communities across the country, the federal government will meet with local groups, he said from his Vancouver office.

'We'll be working with the Whitehorse Planning Group on Homelessness for them to identify their priorities,' he said.

'From the government's point of view, there is no restriction on new and innovative. It will be up to the community committees to determine their priorities.'

According to numbers from the centre, approximately six babies are born with FASD for every 100 in the Yukon. This contrasts with the one to three per 1,000 for most industrialized nations, according to federal statistics.

In Canada, it is estimated that at least one child is born with the disorder each day, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) website says.

FASD refers to a group of disorders that can arise in children when alcohol is consumed during pregnancy. These can include learning disabilities, hyperactivity, difficulty managing anger and growth deficiencies, according to PHAC.

Another obstacle the organization will likely be faced with, if word of funding doesn't come soon, is a shortage of trained staff.

'Most of us work because we need the money, as well as loving our clients,' Pakozdy said. 'We've already had two staff members take other jobs because they know the money might not come.'

'So, if the money comes in on March 30, it's not going to be a major help,' she said.

At that point, FASSY would have to enter into six months of recruitment and training for new staff, she added.

If the funds don't come in in time, FASSY does have an alternate plan.

'If we're going back to holding meetings in someone's kitchen, I guess we will,' Pakozdy said.