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Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support
93.877
This Program supports activities to: provide information and education on autism and other developmental disabilities (DD) to increase public awareness; promote research into the development and validation of reliable screening tools and interventions for autism and other developmental disabilities and disseminate information; promote early screening of individuals with increased likelihood for autism and other developmental disabilities as early as practicable, given evidence-based screening techniques and interventions; increase the number of professionals who are able to confirm or rule out a diagnosis of autism and other developmental disabilities; and increase the number of professionals able to provide evidence-based interventions for individuals diagnosed with autism or other developmental disabilities. The Autism Research Portfolio includes the Autism Research Network Program (Autism RN) Program, Autism Single Investigator Innovation Program (Autism SIIP), Autism Field-Initiated Innovative Research Studies (Autism FIRST) Program, and the Autism Secondary Data Analysis Research (Autism SDAR) Program. The Autism RNs establish and maintain an interdisciplinary, multicenter research forum for scientific collaboration and infrastructure building. They provide national leadership in research to advance the evidence base on effective interventions for children and adolescents with autism and other developmental disabilities (ASD/DD) across the lifespan. The Research Networks develop guidelines for those interventions and disseminate information related to such research and guidelines as authorized by the Autism CARES Act of 2019 (Autism CARES Act). The Autism SIIP Program supports focused research on priority, emerging, and underdeveloped research areas in autism and other development disabilities (DD), with a special focus on addressing the needs of underserved populations. The Autism FIRST Program supports research studies testing the implementation of new/innovative strategies that address critical issues surrounding the health of children and adolescents with autism. These studies collect primary data to analyze public health trends in their chosen area of focus within the Autism/DD, with awardees typically implementing randomized control trials. The Autism SDAR Program supports secondary data analysis of existing publicly available and accessible national databases and/or administrative records to determine the evidence-based practices for interventions that improve the physical and behavioral health of children and adolescents with autism/DD, with a particular focus on addressing barriers to identification, diagnosis, interventions and services among underserved populations and for whom there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, and limited access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment for autism/DD.
This chart shows obligations for the program by fiscal year. All data for this chart was provided by the
administering agency and sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and Treasury.gov.
For more information on each of these data sources, please see the
About the data page.
The Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities program improves care and outcomes for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities (DDs) through training, advancing best practices, and service. The program supports training programs, research, and state systems grants to: • Improve access to early screening, diagnosis and intervention for children with ASD or other DDs; • Increase the number of professionals able to diagnose ASD and other DDs; • Promote the use of evidence-based interventions for individuals at higher risk for ASD and other DDs as early as possible; • Increase the number of professionals able to provide evidence-based interventions for individuals diagnosed with ASD or other DDs; • Provide information and education on ASD and other DDs to increase public awareness; • Promote research and information distribution on the development and validation of reliable screening tools and interventions for ASD and other DDs; and • Promote early screening of individuals at higher risk for ASD and other DDs.
Training Programs: The program has two main training components, the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Related Disabilities (LEND) program and the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) Training program. From 2011 – 2014, the LEND and DBP programs collectively: • Provided diagnostic evaluations for ASD and other DDs to more than 224,000 children; • Provided training to nearly 16,000 pediatricians, DBP specialists, and other health professionals; and • Provided more than 3,000 continuing education events on early screening, diagnosis, and intervention that reached over 214,000 pediatricians and other health professionals.
Research: To improve the health and well-being of children with ASD, HRSA supports five research networks and investigator-initiated autism intervention research projects. From 2011 – 2014, the research programs collectively: • Conducted 57 studies on physical and behavioral health issues related to ASD and other DDs, screening and diagnostic measures, early intervention, and transition to adulthood; • Developed 42 new measures and tools, including diagnostic and screening tools and outcome measures that are helping to guide provider practice; • Prepared 209 publications for peer reviewed journals, of which 105 were published, and the remainder were in progress. HRSA’s autism research helps underserved populations overcome barriers to diagnosis and access needed services.
State Systems grants: The Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities program supports state systems grants to improve access to comprehensive, coordinated health care and related services for children and youth with ASD and other DDs.
See FY 2016 description.
N/A
In FY 2019, the LEND and DBP programs provided interdisciplinary leadership training to 25,253 trainees, enhanced the knowledge and skills of over 152,000 practicing professionals through 1,611 continuing education events, and provided interdisciplinary diagnostic services to 121,610 children to confirm or rule out ASD/DD.
The Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) programs provided interdisciplinary leadership training to over 59,000 trainees, enhanced the knowledge and skills of over 128,000 practicing professionals through over 1,700 continuing education events, and provided interdisciplinary diagnostic services to over 115,000 children to confirm or rule out ASD/DD
In FY 2020, the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) and Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) programs collectively provided:
Diagnostic services to confirm or rule out autism/DD to over 115,000 children.
Training to nearly 17,500 trainees in pediatrics, developmental-behavioral pediatrics, other health professions, and people with lived experience.
Over 3,300 continuing education events on early screening, diagnosis, and services that reached over 270,000 pediatricians and other health professionals.
Accomplishments from the Autism Research Networks and Autism Single Investigator Innovation Programs in FY 2021 include:
Completed 95 studies on physical and behavioral health issues related to autism/DD, screening and diagnostic measures, early intervention, and transition to adulthood
Enrolled 17,857 participants in primary research studies through 52 research sites across the country and included 1,049,578 participants in secondary data analyses
Developed 65 peer-reviewed publications in leading scholarly journals
Research findings contributed to the evidence that supports clinical and public health recommendations. For example, research findings from the Autism Longitudinal Data Project contributed to the evidence that support the following clinical and public health recommendations: (1) updated CDC guidelines on lowering lead exposure levels of health concern; and (2) consensus statement on acetaminophen use during pregnancy published in Nature Review of Endocrinology.
During 2020-2021, state systems awardees:
Partnered with 6 primary care practices to implement family navigation services and participate in provider trainings.
Employed 28 family navigators.
Served 1074 families by providing children with autism/DD or with increased likelihood of being diagnosed with autism/DD with screening, diagnosis, referral to early intervention or related services, and enrollment in community-based services before 36 months of age.
Promoted and facilitated developmental screening services and follow-up.
Increased awareness of autism/DD through stakeholder meetings, online learning communities, or one-time trainings that covered autism generally, intervention services, and assistance programs to families, primary care providers and community-based providers.
Engaged family members and family advocates through trainings or training institutes, steering committees, and family support organizations through:
34 webinars for primary care physicians reaching 563 attendees;
Community and family trainings, reaching approximately 6000 participants; and
Hosting six community and family learning communities on developmental screenings, reaching over 600 participants.
In FY 2022, the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) and Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) programs collectively provided:
Diagnostic services to confirm or rule out autism/DD to over 162,000 children
Training to nearly 20,000 trainees in pediatrics, developmental-behavioral pediatrics, other health professions, and people with lived experience
Over 4,400 continuing education events on early screening, diagnosis, and services that reached over 418,000 pediatricians and other health professionals
Accomplishments from the Autism Research Networks and Autism Single Investigator Innovation Programs in FY 2022 include:
Completed 104 studies on physical and behavioral health issues related to autism/DD, screening and diagnostic measures, early intervention, and transition to adulthood
Enrolled 10,191 participants in primary research studies through 63 research sites across the country and included 1,311,007 participants in secondary data analyses
Developed 66 peer-reviewed publications in leading scholarly journals
Research findings contributed to the evidence that supports clinical and public health recommendations. For example, research findings from the Autism Longitudinal Data Project contributed to the evidence that support the following clinical and public health recommendations: (1) updated CDC guidelines on lowering lead exposure levels of health concern; and (2) consensus statement on acetaminophen use during pregnancy published in Nature Review of Endocrinology.
Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):
For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.
OMB is working with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency offices of inspectors general to include links to relevant oversight reports. This section will be updated once this information is made available.
