110 HR 1881 IH: Expanding the Promise for
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-04-17
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Expanding the Promise for Individuals
With Autism Act of 2007
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)Autism is a
complex developmental disability that affects the functioning of the brain and
lasts through a person’s lifetime.
(2)Individuals living
with autism have the same rights as other individuals to exert control and
choice over their own lives, to live independently, and to fully participate in
and contribute to their communities through full integration and inclusion in
the economic, political, social, cultural, and educational mainstream of
society.
(3)The prevalence of
autism appears to be growing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
report that in 2007, autism affects 1 in every 150 children and 1,500,000
Americans have autism.
(4)Both children and
adults with autism typically show difficulties in verbal and nonverbal
communication, social interactions, and sensory processing. Individuals with
autism exhibit different symptoms or behaviors, which may range from mild to
significant, and require varying degrees of support from their friends,
families, and communities.
(5)Although the overall
incidence of autism is consistent around the globe, it is 4 times more
prevalent in boys than in girls. Autism knows no racial, ethnic, or social
boundaries, or differences in family income, lifestyle, or educational levels
and can affect any family and any child.
(6)Individuals with
autism often need assistance in the areas of early intervention, education,
employment, transportation, housing, health, and recreation. With access to
these types of services and supports, individuals with autism can live full,
rich, productive lives. Greater coordination within the service delivery system
will enable individuals and families to access assistance from all sectors
throughout the lifespan, thus facilitating the appropriate delivery of
information, education, and services.
(7)There is strong
consensus within the research community that intensive intervention started as
soon as possible following diagnosis yields the most positive outcomes for
children with autism.
(8)The limited amount
of credible evidence-based research on services to children and adults with
autism is a major impediment to the development of quality services. Without
this base of research, many services and supports for individuals with autism
are not covered by private or public health insurance programs, nor are certain
interventions provided as part of a child’s special education individualized
education plan. As a result, individuals and families who wish to access
services are often only able to do so through incurring significant
nonreimbursable costs.
(9)Workforce
shortages contribute to the limited availability of treatments, interventions,
and supports. There is a need for more professionals who can appropriately
provide employment, residential, and other community-based services to adults
with autism, as well as a need for professionals who can appropriately diagnose
autism in very young children, and those who can develop appropriate
evidence-based treatments, interventions, and supports across the lifespan of
individuals with autism.
(10)The combined
characteristics of an individual with autism, a lack of or limited verbal
communication, the inability to gauge social cues, and challenging behaviors,
has resulted in a growing need for community-based individual and family
support services and increased monitoring for abuse, neglect, and rights
violations.
(11)Preliminary
numbers on 20 States indicate that in 2006, almost a quarter of individuals
served under protection and advocacy programs for individuals with
developmental disabilities were individuals with autism, a 6 percent increase
from the previous year, yet thousands of individuals with autism were unable to
access services due to a lack of resources.
(12)Whatever their
individual needs, children and adults with autism should receive the
treatments, interventions, services, and programs that will enable them to
fully participate in and enjoy a good quality of life in their
communities.
3.Amendment to the
Public Health Service ActPart
R of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280i et seq.) is
amended—
(1)by inserting after the header for part R
the following:
1
;
(2)in section
399AA(d), by striking part
and inserting subpart
;
and
(3)by adding at the
end the following:
2Support for
individuals with autism and their families
399GG.In this subpart:
(1)The term adult with autism means an
individual with autism who is 18 years of age or older.
(2)The
term autism means an autism spectrum disorder or a related
developmental disability.
(3)The term children with autism means
individuals with autism who have not attained 18 years of age.
(4)The term individual with autism means an
individual who has been diagnosed with autism.
(5)The
term interventions means the educational methods and positive
behavioral support strategies designed to improve or ameliorate symptoms
associated with autism.
(6)The
term services means the services to assist individuals with autism
to live more independently in their communities.
(7)The
term treatments means the health services, including mental health
services, designed to improve or ameliorate symptoms associated with
autism.
399HH.Treatments,
interventions, and services evaluation task force
(a)Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of the
Expanding the Promise for Individuals With
Autism Act of 2007, the Secretary, on behalf of the Interagency
Autism Coordinating Committee (established in section 399CC), shall convene a
Treatments, Interventions, and Services Evaluation Task Force (referred to in
this subpart as the Task Force
) to evaluate evidence-based
biomedical and behavioral treatments and services, including the
following:
(1)Treatments,
interventions, and services that are effective in reducing the impact of
symptoms associated with autism upon the quality of life outcomes for children
with autism and adults with autism.
(2)Treatments,
interventions, and services that are effective in reducing the long-term costs
of treatments associated with autism.
(3)Treatments,
interventions, and services that are effective in assisting individuals with
autism to live independently in their communities.
(4)Treatments,
interventions, and services that can be widely replicated across States and
communities during the 2-year period after the date of enactment of the
Expanding the Promise for Individuals With
Autism Act of 2007.
(5)Gaps in applied
research on treatments, interventions, and services that should be addressed by
future research.
(6)The cost
effectiveness of such treatments, interventions, and services.
(7)The availability of
such treatments, interventions, and services in each of the States.
(8)Successful State-
and community-based models that organize, integrate, and deliver comprehensive
services, interventions, and treatments across the lifespan of individuals with
autism.
(9)Other relevant
concerns regarding the availability of such treatments, interventions, and
services, as designated by the Secretary.
(b)The
Secretary shall ensure that the Task Force membership shall consist of the
following:
(1)Health care
providers with expertise in treating children or adults with autism in
hospitals or other health care settings where comprehensive health care is
available.
(2)Licensed mental
health professionals with experience in treatments of autism or other related
behavioral therapies and interventions.
(3)Developmental
pediatricians with expertise in autism.
(4)Researchers with
an expertise in neurology, gastroenterology, behavioral sciences,
endocrinology, special education, vocational services, and other specialties
that pertain to treatments, interventions, and services as designated by the
Secretary.
(5)Health economists
or other individuals with expertise in cost-benefit analysis and health
policy.
(6)Service providers
with an expertise in assisting individuals with autism to access housing,
employment, and other services necessary to live in such individuals'
communities.
(7)Educators with
expertise in early interventions, special education, and transition services
for children with autism, and education or training for adults with
autism.
(8)A representative
of the National Council on Disability.
(9)A liaison from the
National Institutes of Health involved with the Interagency Autism Coordinating
Committee.
(10)Representatives
of State agencies managing services to individuals with autism.
(11)Individuals with
autism, families affected by autism, and members of organizations that advocate
for individuals with autism and their families, whose representation on the
Task Force shall be not less than one-third of all members.
(12)Other
individuals, as designated by the Secretary.
(c)
(1)Not later than 1 year after first convening, the Task
Force shall deliver a report to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee,
the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Secretary, the heads of
other agencies represented on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee,
and the relevant committees of Congress containing the evaluation as detailed
in subsection (a).
(2)Not
later than 90 days after receiving the report described in paragraph (1), the
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee shall provide to the Director of the
National Institutes of Health, the Secretary, and the relevant committees of
Congress a response to the Task Force report. Such report shall be posted on
the Internet and shall be available and easily accessible to the public.
399II.Demonstration
grants for coverage of treatments, interventions, and services
(a)Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of
the Expanding the Promise for Individuals
With Autism Act of 2007, the Secretary shall establish a
demonstration grant program awarding multiyear grants to enable selected States
to provide evidence-based autism treatments, interventions, and services, as
identified by the Task Force under section 399HH.
(b)A
State that desires to receive a grant under subsection (a), shall submit an
application, in consultation with the State Developmental Disabilities Council
and organizations representing or serving individuals with autism and their
families, that contains the following information:
(1)The treatments,
interventions, or services that the State proposes to provide.
(2)Demonstrated
capacity to provide or establish such treatments, interventions, and services
within the State.
(3)Demonstrated
capacity to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of such treatments,
interventions, and services upon individuals with autism.
(4)Demonstrated
ability to develop a process for distributing funds to a range of
community-based or nonprofit providers of treatments, interventions, and
services, as well as local governments that provide services for individuals
with autism at the community level.
(5)Estimates of the
number of individuals and families who will be served by such grant, including
an estimate of the number of individuals and families in medically underserved
areas who will be served by such grants.
(6)Documented ability
to administer such grants in partnership with community-based or nonprofit
providers of treatments, interventions, and services, including those that act
as advocates for individuals with autism, and local governments that provide
services for individuals with autism at the community level.
(7)A description of
the ways in which access to such treatments and services may be sustained
following the grant period.
(8)Compliance with
the integration requirement provided under section 302 of the Americans With
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12182).
(c)The
Secretary shall contract, 36 months after establishing the demonstration grant
program under this section, with a third-party organization with expertise in
evaluation to evaluate such demonstration grant program and release a report
not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of the
Expanding the Promise for Individuals With
Autism Act of 2007, on the ways in which the treatments,
interventions, and services provided through the demonstration grant program
have resulted in improved health, educational, employment, and community
integration outcomes for individuals with autism.
(d)Demonstration grant funds provided under this section
shall supplement, not supplant, existing treatments, interventions, and
services for individuals with autism.
(e)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this section $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2012.
Amounts not expended in 1 fiscal year shall be carried over to the next fiscal
year.
399JJ.Planning and
demonstration grant for services for adults
(a)In
order to enable States to provide appropriate services to adults with autism,
thus enabling such adults to be as independent as possible, the Secretary shall
establish—
(1)a 1-time, single
year planning grant program for selected States; and
(2)a multiyear
service provision demonstration grant program for selected States.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall award 1-time grants to selected
States to support the planning and development of initiatives that will expand
and enhance service delivery systems for adults with autism.
(2)In
order to receive such a grant, a State shall submit an application at such time
and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including a
demonstrated ability to carry out such planning grant in partnership with the
State Developmental Disabilities Council and organizations representing or
serving individuals with autism and their families.
(3)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this subsection $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.
(c)
(1)The Secretary shall award grants to States that have
received a planning grant under subsection (b) to enable such State to provide
appropriate services to adults with autism.
(2)In
order to receive a grant under paragraph (1), the State shall submit an
application at such time and containing such information as the Secretary may
require, including—
(A)the services that
the State proposes to provide and the expected outcomes for adults with autism
who receive such services;
(B)the number of
adults and families who will be served by such grant, including an estimate of
the adults and families in underserved areas who will be served by such
grant;
(C)the ways in which
services will be coordinated among both public and nonprofit providers of
services for adults with disabilities, including community-based
services;
(D)the process
through which the States will distribute funds to a range of community-based or
nonprofit providers of services, including local governments, and their
capacity to provide such services;
(E)the process
through which the States will monitor and evaluate the outcome of activities
funded through the grant upon adults with autism who receive such
services;
(F)the process by
which the State will ensure compliance with the integration requirement
provided under section 302 of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 12182); and
(G)a description of
how such services may be sustained following the grant period.
(d)The
Secretary shall contract, 36 months after establishing the demonstration grant
program under this section, with a third-party organization with expertise in
evaluation to evaluate such demonstration grant program and release a report,
not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of the
Expanding the Promise for Individuals With
Autism Act of 2007, as to whether the services provided through
this grant program have resulted in improved health, education, employment, and
community integration outcomes for adults with autism.
(e)Demonstration grant funds provided under this section
shall supplement, not supplant, existing treatments, interventions, and
services for individuals with autism.
(f)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2008 through 2012. Any amounts not expended in 1 fiscal year
shall be carried over to the next fiscal year
399KK.Expanding
access to postdiagnosis care
(a)The Secretary shall award grants to States to enable the
States to assist with the provision of treatments, interventions, and services
to children with autism, with the goal of—
(1)providing
multi-agency, intensive, and comprehensive, evidence-based treatments,
interventions, and services;
(2)coordinating
supplementary health care, behavioral support services, and individual and
family-support services through Federal and State-funded programs; and
(3)supplementing, not
supplanting, Federal and State funds supporting early interventions, education,
and health and long-term care services to increase treatments, interventions,
and services, and eliminate delays in access to such treatments, interventions,
and services.
(b)Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of the
Expanding the Promise for Individuals With
Autism Act of 2007, the Secretary, in conjunction with the heads
of other relevant agencies, shall develop a guidance to States, with the
purpose of increasing the amount and quality of postdiagnosis treatments,
interventions, and services, and eliminating delays in access to supplementary
health care, behavioral support services, and individual and family-support
services through Federal and State funded programs.
(c)Following
the release of the guidance described in subsection (b), the Secretary shall
develop an implementation timeline for States to establish programs that reduce
the amount of time between diagnosis of autism in children and the point when
children with autism receive evidence-based treatment, interventions, and
services.
(d)Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of
the Expanding the Promise for Individuals
With Autism Act of 2007, the Secretary shall award grants to
States to enable the States to carry out the guidance established in subsection
(b). States that desire to receive a grant under this subsection shall submit
an application at such time and containing such information as the Secretary
may require.
(e)Grant funds provided under this section shall
supplement, not supplant, existing treatments, interventions, and services for
individuals with autism.
(f)The
Secretary shall contract, 36 months after establishing the demonstration grant
program under this section, with a third-party organization with expertise in
evaluation to evaluate such demonstration grant program and release a report
not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of the
Expanding the Promise for Individuals With
Autism Act of 2007 on the following topics:
(1)Whether such grant
program has resulted in increased and improved provision of multi-agency,
intensive, and comprehensive, evidence-based treatments and interventions, and
elimination of delays in access to Federal and State-funded programs.
(2)The best practices
in States to increase and improve services and eliminate delays in access to
such services.
(3)Additional actions
that may be required in order to ensure increases and improvement in
postdiagnosis treatments, interventions, and services, and eliminating delays
in access to Federal and State-funded programs.
(4)Other information,
as required by the Secretary.
(g)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this section—
(1)$10,000,000 for
fiscal year 2009;
(2)$13,000,000 for
fiscal year 2010;
(3)$17,000,000 for
fiscal year 2011; and
(4)$20,000,000 for
fiscal year 2012.
399LL.National
training initiatives on autism
(a)National training
initiative supplemental grants and technical assistance
(1)
(A)The Secretary shall award, in consultation with the
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, multiyear national training
initiative supplemental grants to University Centers of Excellence for
Developmental Disabilities in order to allow each such center to provide
training, technical assistance, dissemination, and services, and address the
unmet needs of individuals with autism and their families.
(B)A
University Center of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities that desires to
receive a grant under this paragraph shall submit to the Secretary an
application containing such agreements and information as the Secretary may
require, including agreements that the training program shall—
(i)provide trainees
with an appropriate balance of interdisciplinary academic and community-based
experiences;
(ii)have a
demonstrated capacity to provide training and technical assistance in
evidence-based practices to evaluate and provide effective treatments,
interventions, and services to children with autism, adults with autism, and
their families;
(iii)have a
demonstrated capacity to include individuals with autism, parents, and family
members as part of the training program to ensure that a person and
family-centered approach is used;
(iv)provide to the
Secretary, in the manner prescribed by the Secretary, data regarding the
outcomes of the provision of training and technical assistance;
(v)demonstrate a
willingness to share and disseminate materials and practices that are developed
and evaluated to be effective in the provision of training and technical
assistance; and
(vi)provide assurances
that training, technical assistance, and service demonstration performed under
grants made pursuant to this paragraph shall be consistent with the goals
established under already existing disability programs authorized under Federal
law and conducted in coordination with other relevant State agencies and
service providers.
(C)A
University Center of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities that receives a
grant under this paragraph shall expand and develop interdisciplinary training
and continuing education initiatives for health, allied health, and educational
professionals and develop model services that demonstrate evidence-based
practices, by engaging in the following activities:
(i)Training health,
allied health, and educational professionals to identify, diagnose, and develop
interventions for individuals with, or at risk of developing, autism.
(ii)Working to expand
the availability of effective, lifelong interventions, educational services,
and community supports.
(iii)Providing
statewide technical assistance in collaboration with relevant State agencies,
autism advocacy groups, and community-based service providers.
(iv)Working to
develop comprehensive systems of supports and services for individuals with
autism and their families.
(v)Promoting and
engaging in training, technical assistance, dissemination, and evidence-based
supports and services.
(vi)Developing
mechanisms to provide training and technical assistance, including for-credit
courses, intensive summer institutes, continuing education programs,
distance-based programs, and web-based information dissemination
strategies.
(vii)Promoting
activities that support community-based family and individual services and
enable individuals with autism to participate in society and achieve good
quality of life outcomes.
(viii)Collecting data
on the outcomes of training and technical assistance programs to meet statewide
needs for the expansion of services to children with autism and adults with
autism.
(2)The Secretary shall reserve 2 percent of the
appropriated funds to make a grant to a national organization with demonstrated
capacity for providing training and technical assistance to University Centers
of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities to—
(A)assist in national
dissemination of specific information, including evidence-based best practices,
from interdisciplinary training programs, and when appropriate, other entities
whose findings would inform the work performed by entities awarded
grants;
(B)compile and
disseminate strategies and materials that prove to be effective in the
provision of training and technical assistance so that the entire network can
benefit from the models, materials, and practices developed in individual
centers;
(C)assist in the
coordination of activities of grantees under this section;
(D)develop a web
portal that will provide linkages to each of the individual training
initiatives and provide access to training modules, promising training, and
technical assistance practices and other materials developed by
grantees;
(E)serve as a
research-based resource for Federal and State policymakers on information
concerning the provision of training and technical assistance for the
assessment, diagnosis of, and provisions for supports and services for children
with autism and adults with autism;
(F)convene experts
from multiple interdisciplinary training programs and individuals with autism
and their families to discuss and make recommendations with regard to training
issues related to the assessment, diagnosis of, treatment, interventions and
services for, children with autism and adults with autism; and
(G)undertake any
other functions that the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
(3)Authorization of
appropriations
(A)There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
subsection $13,400,000 for fiscal year 2008—
(i)to
award supplemental grants, in equal amounts, to University Centers of
Excellence for Developmental Disabilities; and
(ii)in the case of
University Centers of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities located in
American Samoa or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, to award
supplemental grants of not less than $100,000 each.
(B)Fiscal year 2009
through 2012There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this subsection such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2009
through 2012—
(i)to
award supplemental grants, in equal amounts, to University Centers of
Excellence for Developmental Disabilities; and
(ii)in the case of
University Centers of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities located in
American Samoa or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, to award
supplemental grants of not less than $100,000 per individual grant.
(C)Appropriations
less than $13,400,000Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B),
with respect to any fiscal year for which the amount appropriated under this
paragraph to carry out this section is less than $13,400,000, the Secretary
shall—
(i)award supplemental
grants, on a competitive basis, from such amount to individual University
Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities of not less than $200,000
per individual grant; and
(ii)in the case of
University Centers of Excellence for Developmental Disabilities located in
American Samoa or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, award
supplemental grants, on a competitive basis, of not less than $100,000 per
individual grant.
(D)Not
more than 2 percent of the amount appropriated under this paragraph for a
fiscal year may be reserved to carry out paragraph (2) for such fiscal
year.
(b)Expansion of the
number of university centers for excellence in developmental disabilities
research, education, and services
(1)The
Secretary shall award not more than 4 additional grants for the University
Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the purpose of
expanding the capacity of existing national networks and enhancing the number
of training facilities with a primary focus on autism. Such Centers
shall—
(A)train health,
allied health, and educational professionals to identify, diagnose, treat, and
provide services for individuals with autism;
(B)provide services
to individual with autism; and
(C)provide other
training and technical assistance, as necessary.
(2)The
Secretary shall give priority in awarding grants to Centers in—
(A)minority-serving
institutions that have demonstrated the capacity to meet the requirements to
qualify as a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and
provide services to individuals with autism; or
(B)States with
underserved populations.
(3)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this subsection $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through
2012.
399MM.GAO study on
service provision and financingNot later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of the Expanding the Promise for
Individuals With Autism Act of 2007, the Comptroller General of
the United States shall release a report that examines the following
issues:
(1)The ways in which
autism services and treatments are currently financed in the United
States.
(2)Current policies
for public and private health insurance coverage of autism treatments,
interventions, and services.
(3)Geographic and
regional disparities in provision of services across the lifespan of
individuals with autism, levels of community-based versus institutional
services, and coverage for such services.
(4)Ways in which to
improve financing of autism treatments, interventions, and services, so as to
ensure a minimum level of coverage across the United States.
399NN.Emerging
needs protection and advocacy program
(a)The Secretary shall make grants to protection and
advocacy systems for the purpose of enabling such systems to address the needs
of individuals with autism and other emerging populations of individuals with
disabilities.
(b)Services provided under this section may include the
provision of—
(1)information,
referrals, and advice;
(2)individual and
family advocacy;
(3)legal
representation; and
(4)specific
assistance in self-advocacy.
(c)To
be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a protection and advocacy
system shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such form
and manner, and accompanied by such information and assurances as the Secretary
may require.
(d)Appropriations
less than $6,000,000
(1)With respect to any fiscal year in which the amount
appropriated under subsection (i) to carry out this section is less than
$6,000,000, the Secretary shall make grants from such amount to individual
protection and advocacy systems within States to enable such systems to plan
for, develop outreach strategies for, and carry out services authorized under
this section for emerging populations of individuals with disabilities.
(2)The amount of a grant under paragraph (1) shall be based on
the size of the State in which the individual protection and advocacy system is
located but be not less than $100,000 for individual protection and advocacy
systems located in States and not less than $50,000 for individual protection
and advocacy systems located in territories and the American Indian
consortium.
(e)Appropriations
of $6,000,000 or moreThe Secretary shall make grants during each
fiscal year not later than October 1 to States as follows:
(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), with respect to each
fiscal year in which the amount appropriated under subsection (i) to carry out
this section is $6,000,000 or more, the Secretary shall make a grant to a
protection and advocacy system within each State.
(2)The
amount of a grant provided to a system under paragraph (1) shall be equal to an
amount bearing the same ratio to the total amount appropriated for the fiscal
year involved under subsection (i) as the population of the State in which the
grantee is located bears to the population of all States.
(3)Subject
to the availability of appropriations, the amount of a grant to a protection
and advocacy system under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year shall be—
(A)in the case of a
protection and advocacy system located in American Samoa, Guam, the United
States Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and
the protection and advocacy system serving the American Indian consortium, not
less than $50,000; and
(B)in the case of a
protection and advocacy system in a State not described in subparagraph (A),
not less than $100,000.
(4)For each fiscal year in which the total amount
appropriated under subsection (i) to carry out this section is $7,000,000 or
more, and such appropriated amount exceeds the total amount appropriated to
carry out this section in the preceding fiscal year, the Secretary shall
increase each of the minimum grant amounts described in subparagraphs (A) and
(B) of paragraph (3) by a percentage equal to the percentage increase in the
total amount appropriated under subsection (i) to carry out this section
between the preceding fiscal year and the fiscal year involved.
(f)Any
amount paid to a protection and advocacy system that serves a State or the
American Indian consortium for a fiscal year under this section that remains
unobligated at the end of such fiscal year shall remain available to such
system for obligation during the next fiscal year for the purposes for which
such amount was originally provided.
(g)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary
shall pay directly to any protection and advocacy system that complies with the
provisions of this section, the total amount of the grant for such system,
unless the system provides otherwise for such payment.
(h)Each protection and advocacy system that receives a
payment under this section shall submit an annual report to the Secretary
concerning the services provided to emerging populations of individuals with
disabilities by such system.
(i)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this section $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, and such sums as may be
necessary for each the fiscal years 2009 through 2013.
(j)In
this section:
(1)American indian
consortiumThe term American Indian consortium has
the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities
Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002).
(2)Protection and
advocacy systemThe term protection and advocacy
system means a protection and advocacy system established under section
143 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000
(42 U.S.C. 15043).
(3)The
term State, unless otherwise specified, means the several States
of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
(k)The Secretary shall reserve 2 percent of appropriated
funds to make a grant to an eligible national organization for providing
training and technical assistance to protection and advocacy systems.
399OO.National
technical assistance center for autism treatment, intervention, and
services
(a)National
technical assistance center for autism treatments, interventions, and
services
(1)The
Secretary shall award a grant to a national nonprofit organization for the
establishment and maintenance of a national technical assistance center.
(2)An
organization shall be eligible to receive a grant under paragraph (1) if the
organization—
(A)has demonstrated
knowledge and expertise in serving children with autism and adults with autism
and their families;
(B)has demonstrated
knowledge of how to translate research to practice, and present information in
a way that is easily accessible and understandable to the family members of
individuals with autism;
(C)has demonstrated
capacity of training educators, health care providers, family members, and
others to support the needs of individuals with autism or other developmental
disabilities;
(D)has demonstrated
capacity of disseminating information throughout the United States; and
(E)has demonstrated
capacity to establish and maintain a website through which to disseminate
information in an easily accessible manner.
(3)The national technical assistance center established under
this section shall—
(A)gather and
disseminate information on evidence-based treatments, interventions, and
services for children with autism and adults with autism, including best
practices in delivering such treatments, interventions, and services, and make
this information available to State agencies with responsibilities under
section 399BB(c)(2), local communities, and individuals;
(B)gather and
disseminate information on activities of the Interagency Autism Coordinating
Committee and the Task Force;
(C)provide analysis
of activities funded under this Act, including—
(i)the effectiveness
of State and community-based models for delivering comprehensive services to
individuals with autism;
(ii)identification
and dissemination of best practices emerging from States, community-based
organizations, nonprofit providers, and local governments receiving
demonstration grants under this subpart;
(iii)the
State-by-State availability of and gaps in services for individuals with
autism, including information on services or service gaps in rural areas;
and
(iv)levels of funding
and funding sources of services for individuals with autism in States;
(D)provide technical
assistance to States and organizations funded under this subpart;
(E)gather and
disseminate information about autism;
(F)establish and
maintain a website through which to disseminate the information gathered under
this section in an easily accessible manner; and
(G)gather and
disseminate other information as determined appropriate by the
Secretary.
(b)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this section $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through
2012.
.