“We work to shape a federal/state partnership that protects their civil rights and provides benefits, supports, and services for our shared constituency.”
The Autism Society of America has jointly developed public policy goals for the 116th Congress with The Arc of the United States, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD), and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP).
Get a digital & printable copy of the PUBLIC POLICY AGENDA for the116th CONGRESS 2019–2020
Find and contact your Representatives and read current legislation here.
Specialisterne | Government Services
Specialisterne is here to help your organization get the best out of neurodiverse talent. Whether you work for a company seeking to attain Section 503 compliance or want to learn new best practices to help your vocational rehabilitation clients gain meaningful employment, we are here to help.
Autistic Self Advocacy Network | Policy Center
“Public policy” refers to the broad scope of laws, regulations and other government actions.
ASAN produces policy advocacy toolkits for system change. These toolkits provide advocates, lawmakers, and professionals with a variety of information, guidance, and resources on specific policy issues, including, where appropriate, model legislation, research overviews, and “know your rights” documentation.
ASAN delves into significant social issues by way of reports and policy briefs created to benefit the Autistic and disability communities. These documents can be accessed at no cost on this page.
Sometimes issues affecting the Autistic community need an organized public response, such as writing emails to companies or submitting comments to government agencies. When this happens, ASAN will post the information to alert the public to the need for prompt action. Our action alerts have focused on such topics as opposing harmful stereotypes about autism, protecting children from dangerous restraints and other abuse, and making sure that the voices of self-advocates are heard in the public conversation about autism.
One way autistic self-advocates can help ASAN’s policy center is by submitting stories about how public policy has affected their lives. These personal testimonies play a role in shaping our policy work. Our policy center needs your stories to more effectively advocate for the rights and needs of autistic people.
“Disability Rights and Neurodiversity”
The neurodiversity movement represents the disability rights perspective within the Autistic community. (Archives)
Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Major Data Collection Projects:
The Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN)
The National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS)
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW)
Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ)
“A Deliberative Approach to Develop Autism Data Collection in Massachusetts
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Autism and Developmental DisabilitiesMonitoring Network (ADDM)
Study to Explore Early Development (SEED)
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
Administration for Community Living (ACL)
Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD)
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Independent Living Services (ILS) Progra
Centers for Independent Living (CILs) Program
National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILR)
Assistive Technology Act of 1998
State Grant for Assistive Technology Program
State Protection and Advocacy for Assistive Technology (PAAT) Program
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Federal Medicaid program
Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT)
Medicare
The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
The Medicaid Health Home State Plan Option
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Training
Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Related Disabilities (LEND)
Leadership Education in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP)
Interdisciplinary Technical Assistance Center (ITAC)
Research
Autism Research Networks Program
R40 Autism Research Program
National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN) and the 2011–2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH)
State Services
State Systems Grants
State Public Health Autism Resource Center (SPHARC)
Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant Program
Got Transition/Center for Health Care Transition Improvement
Telebehavioral Health Center of Excellence
Indian Children’s Program
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
ServASD
Project SEARCH (PS)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Child Mental Health Initiative (CMHI): (“System of Care” grant program)
“Now Is The Time” Healthy Transitions Program (NITT-HT)
Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B
Part D (National Activities to Improve Education of Children with Disabilities) of the IDEA
Personnel Preparation in Special Education
Autism Focused Intervention and Resource Modules (AFIRM)
Center for Parent Information and Resources, and the Parent Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs)
Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
Rehabilitation Act
State Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program (visit this websites “program” page for more information)
The Supported Employment for Individuals With the Most Significant Disabilities, Title VI-BState Grants
The American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS)
Rehabilitation Training
Demonstration and Training Programs
Parent Information and Training Programs
OSEP and RSA fund the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT)
Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
The OCR has enforcement responsibilities to resolve complaints and conduct compliance reviews involving disability discrimination under two federal anti-discrimination laws: (a) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504); and (b) Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title II).
Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER)
Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE)
The PROMISE program is an interagency collaboration of the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Social Security Administration. It is anticipated that the evaluation examining outcomes of the PROMISE program will lead to improvements in short- and long-term outcomes encompassing both service-delivery outcomes (assessment of youth and family needs and greater coordination and use of services), and youth and parent outcomes (expectations, self-determination, education, employment, public assistance, and income).
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administratively enforces several civil rights laws prohibiting housing discrimination, including the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Section 504: Section 504 provisions apply to recipients of HUD financial assistance, including the Community Development Block Grant, Public Housing, Multifamily, Housing Choice Voucher, and other programs.
Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities: Section 811 program, HUD provides funding to develop and subsidize rental housing with the availability of supportive services for very low- and extremely low-income adults with disabilities.
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
ODEP developed the Guideposts for Success in conjunction with its grantee, the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth.
Pathways to Careers Demonstration Grants
Employment First
Disability Employment Initiative (DEI)
Employment and Training Administration to increase the capacity of the national American Job Center network to provide services to job seekers with disabilities.
Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities
The primary purpose of the work of the Committee was to address issues and make recommendations to improve the employment participation of people with I/DD and others with significant disabilities by ensuring opportunities for CIE. The Final Report of the committee can be accessed online.
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)
Accessible Transportation Technologies Research Initiative (ATTRI)
ATTRI is a joint USDOT initiative, co-led by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), with support from the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), and other public and private organizations. Working with these organizations, ATTRI leverages technologies and innovations from disability research and development activities to improve accessible transportation for travelers with disabilities, and to extend these benefits to all travelers.
U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Demonstrations of Policies
Work Supports
Federal Partners in Transition (FPT)
:an interagency policy workgroup led by DOL, bringing together several partner agencies including but not limited to DOL, ED, HHS, and SSA. Formed in 2005, the group has identified several policy priorities to achieve the goals described in The 2020 Youth Transition Plan: A Federal Interagency Strategy, and to improve transition outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities, including:
Facilitating access to quality health care and health care insurance
Promoting collaboration, coordination, and cooperation among youth and adult service systems and agencies
Bridging the service gap between youth and adult programs
Promoting work-based learning
Supporting professional development for service providers
Demonstrating the value of hiring youth and young adults with disabilities
Improving education and outreach to the public regarding policy and practices governing youth transition programs.