Sec. 5. Autism Care Programs Demonstration Project
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Part R of title III of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 280i ), as amended by section 4, is further amended by adding at the end the following: Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Autism Services and Workforce Acceleration Act of 2014 , the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall establish a demonstration project for the implementation of an Autism Care Program (referred to in this section as the Program ) to provide grants and other assistance to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in providing comprehensive care to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and their families.
The Program shall be designed— to increase— comprehensive autism spectrum disorder care delivery; access to appropriate health care services, especially wellness and prevention care, at times convenient for individuals; satisfaction of individuals with autism spectrum disorders; communication among autism spectrum disorder health care providers, behaviorists, educators, specialists, hospitals, and other autism spectrum disorder care providers; academic progress of students with autism spectrum disorders; successful transition to postsecondary education, vocational or job training and placement, and comprehensive adult services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, focusing in particular upon the transitional period for individuals between the ages of 18 and 25; the quality of health care services, taking into account nationally developed standards and measures; development, review, and promulgation of common clinical standards and guidelines for medical care to individuals with autism spectrum disorders; development of clinical research projects to support clinical findings in a search for recommended practices; and the quality of life of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, including communication abilities, social skills, community integration, self-determination, and employment and other related services; and to decrease— inappropriate emergency room utilization; avoidable hospitalizations; the duplication of health care services; the inconvenience of multiple provider locations; health disparities and inequalities that individuals with autism spectrum disorders face; and preventable and inappropriate involvement with the juvenile and criminal justice systems.
To be eligible to receive assistance under the Program, an entity shall— be a State or a public or private nonprofit entity; coordinate activities with the applicable University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, the Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the Protection and Advocacy System; demonstrate a capacity to provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorder; agree to establish and implement treatments, interventions, and services that— enable targeted beneficiaries to designate a personal care coordinator to be their source of first contact and to recommend comprehensive and coordinated care for the whole of the individual; provide for the establishment of a coordination of care committee that is composed of clinicians and practitioners trained in and working in autism spectrum disorder intervention; establish a network of physicians, psychologists, family therapists, behavioral specialists, social workers, educators, and health centers that have volunteered to participate as consultants to patient-centered autism care programs to provide high-quality care, focusing on autism spectrum disorder care, at the appropriate times and places and in a cost-effective manner; work in cooperation with hospitals, local public health departments, and the network of patient-centered autism care programs, to coordinate and provide health care; utilize health information technology to facilitate the provision and coordination of health care by network participants; and collaborate with other entities to further the goals of the program, particularly by collaborating with entities that provide transitional adult services to individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 with autism spectrum disorder, to ensure successful transition of such individuals to adulthood; and submit to the Secretary an application, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including— a description of the treatments, interventions, or services that the eligible entity proposes to provide under the Program; a demonstration of the capacity of the eligible entity to provide or establish such treatments, interventions, and services within such entity; a description of the treatments, interventions, or services that are available to individuals with autism in the State; a description of the gaps in services that exist in different geographic segments of the State; a demonstration of the capacity of the eligible entity to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of the treatments, interventions, and services described in subparagraph (A); estimates of the number of individuals and families who will be served by the eligible entity under the Program, including an estimate of the number of such individuals and families in medically underserved areas; a description of the ability of the eligible entity to enter into partnerships with community-based or nonprofit providers of treatments, interventions, and services, which may include providers that act as advocates for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and local governments that provide services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders at the community level; a description of the ways in which access to such treatments and services may be sustained following the Program period; a description of the ways in which the eligible entity plans to collaborate with other entities to develop and sustain an effective protocol for successful transition from children's services to adult services for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, particularly for individuals between the ages of 18 and 25; and a description of the compliance of the eligible entity with the integration requirement provided under section 302 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 12182 ).
The Secretary shall award 3-year grants to eligible entities whose applications are approved under subsection (c). Such grants shall be used to— carry out a program designed to meet the goals described in subsection
(b)and the requirements described in subsection (c); and facilitate coordination with local communities to be better prepared and positioned to understand and meet the needs of the communities served by autism care programs. Each recipient of a grant under this section shall establish an autism care program advisory council, which shall advise the autism care program regarding policies, priorities, and services. Each recipient of a grant shall appoint members of the recipient's advisory council, which shall include a variety of autism care program service providers, individuals from the public who are knowledgeable about autism spectrum disorders, individuals receiving services through the Program, and family members of such individuals. At least 60 percent of the membership shall be comprised of individuals who have received, or are receiving, services through the Program or who are family members of such individuals. The recipient of a grant shall appoint a chairperson to the advisory council of the recipient's autism care program who shall be— an individual with autism spectrum disorder who has received, or is receiving, services through the Program; or a family member of such an individual. The Secretary shall enter into a contract with an independent third-party organization with expertise in evaluation activities to conduct an evaluation and, not later than 180 days after the conclusion of the 3-year grant program under this section, submit a report to the Secretary, which may include measures such as whether and to what degree the treatments, interventions, and services provided through the Program have resulted in improved health, educational, employment, and community integration outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, or other measures, as the Secretary determines appropriate. Of the amounts appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary shall allocate not more than 7 percent for administrative expenses, including the expenses related to carrying out the evaluation described in subsection (f). Amounts provided to an entity under this section shall be used to supplement, not supplant, amounts otherwise expended for existing treatments, interventions, and services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. .
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