State Planning Grants for Improving Services for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Developmental Disabilities

The summary for the State Planning Grants for Improving Services for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Developmental Disabilities grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Health Resources and Services Administration, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

State Planning Grants for Improving Services for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Developmental Disabilities: This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) solicits applications for the State Planning Grants for Improving Services for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other Developmental Disabilities Program. The purpose of this program is to support applicants in the planning and development of activities that are designed to improve State systems of care for children and youth with ASD and related DDs and increase access to comprehensive coordinated health care. Program Goal: Develop comprehensive, measurable State plans in collaboration with a diverse group of stakeholders that outline an approach to improve access to comprehensive, coordinated health care and related services for children and youth with ASD and other DDs. The statewide plan should address State needs and be designed to: Improve access to culturally competent family-centered medical homes that coordinate care with pediatric subspecialties; Reduce barriers to screening, referral, diagnosis, and intervention services. The plan should aim to increase the number of children and youth with ASD and other related DDs who are identified by 24 months of age, receive first evaluation by 36 months of age and are enrolled in intervention services by 48 months of age; Improve organization and capacity of community-based service systems within states, so that they are easy to use by families; Increase public and provider awareness of the signs and symptoms of ASD and other related DDs; Improve family's satisfaction with their role as partners with providers in shared-decision making; Improve family's satisfaction with the transition from the pediatric to the adult health care system; and Promote adequate health insurance and financing of services. Program Objectives: Develop leadership (advisory panel/coalition) in the State, through improved coordination and communication, that is tasked with guiding the improvement of the State's system of care for children and youth with ASD/DDs. The advisory panel should consist of ASD/DD stakeholders in the State, such as the State Title V Program for Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN), primary care providers including the State Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pediatric specialists, family leaders and parent organizations such as Family Voices and local autism support groups, State and community agencies, State legislatures, public and private payers, and schools. Identify disparities and specific needs of children and youth with ASD and related DDs, including gaps and weakness in State health systems and the contributing factors. Develop consensus and buy-in among ASD/DD stakeholders about statewide objectives, priorities, activities, responsible staff and organizations, target populations, and process and outcome measures based on the needs assessment to be included in the State plan. Program Requirements The applicant must: Propose an approach that includes a detailed, comprehensive needs assessment that addresses the State's status of the system of services for children and youth with ASD and other related DDs. Demonstrate a planning process that leads to the development of a comprehensive measurable State plan that addresses the needs of the State and focuses on improving the system of services for children and youth who have ASD and other related DDs and incorporates input from a diverse group of stakeholders. The applicant must describe their strategy to identify priorities and effectiveness measures for the plan. Demonstrate capacity to develop effective coalitions/partnerships between the State Title V Program for Children with Special Health Care Needs, primary care providers including the State Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pediatric specialists, family leaders and parent organizations such as Family Voices and local autism support groups, state and community agencies, state legislatures, public and private payers and schools and include stakeholders as part of a coalition/advisory panel to guide and oversee the development of the comprehensive statewide plan. Propose planning activities that are aligned with Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) Maternal, Infant, and Child Health (MICH) Objective 29: Increase the proportion of young children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental delays who are screened, evaluated, and enrolled in early intervention services in a timely manner. The activities planned should aim to increase the number of children and youth with ASD and other related DDs who are identified by 24 months of age, receive first evaluation by 36 months of age and are enrolled in intervention services by 48 months of age. Demonstrate capacity to implement planning activities that are statewide in scope. Develop a comprehensive evaluation plan and program monitoring strategy that measures the achievement of the program goal, and objectives noted previously and tracks the status of the applicant's individual project goals and objectives. Grantee Requirements: In addition, to the above program requirements, successful applicants will also be required to participate in the following: 1) Grantee Meeting: Grantees will also be required to attend an annual grantee meeting which will include all grantees funded under MCHB CAAI. The meeting will be will be held in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Applicants should budget for 1 staff to attend the annual meeting. 2) Annual Autism State Program Meeting: Grantees will also be required to attend the annual state autism program meeting, which will include all State Autism Implementation and Planning Grantees. Applicants should budget for 1 staff to attend the annual meeting. 3) Conference Calls: In order to assure coordination and collaboration among all the grants funded under the MCHB CAAI, there will be regularly scheduled conference calls. Successful applicants will be expected to participate in these calls. 4) Evaluation: Successful applicants will be required to work with MCHB's evaluation contractor to collect data for the state program evaluation. This will include both quantitative and qualitative data collection.