I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5756 

To amend title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of 

Rights Act of 2000 to provide for grants and technical assistance to 

improve services rendered to children and adults with autism, and their 

families, and to expand the number of University Centers for Excellence 

in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2010 

Mr. DOYLE (for himself and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance 

and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 to provide for grants 

and technical assistance to improve services rendered 

to children and adults with autism, and their families, 

and to expand the number of University Centers for 

Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Training and Research for Autism Improvements Na4 tionwide Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRAINING INITIATIVES ON AUTISM SPEC6 TRUM DISORDERS. 

7 Title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance 

8 and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15001 et seq.) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘Subtitle F—National Training Ini11 tiative on Autism Spectrum Dis12 orders 

13 ‘‘SEC. 171. NATIONAL TRAINING INITIATIVE. 

14 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con17 sultation with the Interagency Autism Coordi18 nating Committee, shall award multiyear grants 

19 to eligible entities to provide individuals (includ20 ing parents and health, allied health, vocational, 

21 and educational professionals) with interdiscipli22 nary training, continuing education, technical 

23 assistance, and information for the purpose of 

24 improving services rendered to children and 

25 adults with autism, and their families, to ad26 dress unmet needs related to autism. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—To be eligible to 

2 receive a grant under this subsection, an entity 

3 shall be— 

4 ‘‘(i) a University Center for Excel5 lence in Developmental Disabilities Edu6 cation, Research, and Service; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) a comparable interdisciplinary 

8 education, research, and service entity. 

9 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—An 

10 entity that desires to receive a grant for a pro11 gram under this paragraph shall submit to the 

12 Secretary an application— 

13 ‘‘(i) demonstrating that the entity has 

14 capacity to— 

15 ‘‘(I) provide training and tech16 nical assistance in evidence-based 

17 practices to evaluate, and provide ef18 fective interventions, services, treat19 ments, and supports to, children and 

20 adults with autism and their families; 

21 ‘‘(II) include individuals with au22 tism and their families as part of the 

23 program to ensure that an individual24 and family-centered approach is used; 


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1 ‘‘(III) share and disseminate ma2 terials and practices that are devel3 oped for, and evaluated to be effective 

4 in, the provision of training and tech5 nical assistance; and 

6 ‘‘(IV) provide training, technical 

7 assistance, interventions, services, 

8 treatments, and supports under this 

9 subsection statewide; 

10 ‘‘(ii) providing assurances that the en11 tity will— 

12 ‘‘(I) provide trainees under this 

13 subsection with an appropriate bal14 ance of interdisciplinary academic and 

15 community-based experiences; and 

16 ‘‘(II) provide to the Secretary, in 

17 the manner prescribed by the Sec18 retary, data regarding the number of 

19 individuals who have benefitted from, 

20 and outcomes of, the provision of 

21 training and technical assistance 

22 under this subsection; 

23 ‘‘(iii) providing assurances that train24 ing, technical assistance, dissemination of 


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1 information, and services under this sub2 section will be— 

3 ‘‘(I) consistent with the goals of 

4 this Act, the Americans with Disabil5 ities Act of 1990, the Individuals with 

6 Disabilities Education Act, and the 

7 Elementary and Secondary Education 

8 Act of 1965; and 

9 ‘‘(II) conducted in coordination 

10 with relevant State agencies, institu11 tions of higher education, and service 

12 providers; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) containing such other informa14 tion and assurances as the Secretary may 

15 require. 

16 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant received 

17 under this subsection shall be used to provide 

18 individuals (including parents and health, allied 

19 health, vocational, and educational profes20 sionals) with interdisciplinary training, con21 tinuing education, technical assistance, and in22 formation for the purpose of improving services 

23 rendered to children and adults with autism, 

24 and their families, to address unmet needs re25 lated to autism. Such training, education, asVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:03 Jul 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5756.IH H5756

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1 sistance, and information shall include each of 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) Training health, allied health, vo4 cational, and educational professionals to 

5 identify, evaluate the needs of, and develop 

6 interventions, services, treatments, and 

7 supports for, children and adults with au8 tism. 

9 ‘‘(ii) Developing model services and 

10 supports that demonstrate evidence-based 

11 practices. 

12 ‘‘(iii) Developing systems and prod13 ucts that allow for the interventions, serv14 ices, treatments, and supports to be evalu15 ated for fidelity of implementation. 

16 ‘‘(iv) Working to expand the avail17 ability of evidence-based, lifelong interven18 tions; educational, employment, and transi19 tion services; and community supports. 

20 ‘‘(v) Providing statewide technical as21 sistance in collaboration with relevant 

22 State agencies, institutions of higher edu23 cation, autism advocacy groups, and com24 munity-based service providers. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) Working to develop comprehen2 sive systems of supports and services for 

3 individuals with autism and their families, 

4 including seamless transitions between 

5 education and health systems across the 

6 lifespan. 

7 ‘‘(vii) Promoting training, technical 

8 assistance, dissemination of information, 

9 supports, and services. 

10 ‘‘(viii) Developing mechanisms to pro11 vide training and technical assistance, in12 cluding for-credit courses, intensive sum13 mer institutes, continuing education pro14 grams, distance based programs, and Web15 based information dissemination strategies. 

16 ‘‘(ix) Promoting activities that sup17 port community-based family and indi18 vidual services and enable individuals with 

19 autism and related developmental disabil20 ities to fully participate in society and 

21 achieve good quality-of-life outcomes. 

22 ‘‘(x) Collecting data on the outcomes 

23 of training and technical assistance pro24 grams to meet statewide needs for the exVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:03 Jul 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5756.IH H5756

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1 pansion of services to children and adults 

2 with autism. 

3 ‘‘(E) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The amount 

4 of a grant to any entity for a fiscal year under 

5 this section shall be not less than $250,000. 

6 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

7 shall reserve 2 percent of the amount appropriated 

8 to carry out this subsection for a fiscal year to make 

9 a grant to a national organization with dem10 onstrated capacity for providing training and tech11 nical assistance to— 

12 ‘‘(A) assist in national dissemination of 

13 specific information, including evidence-based 

14 best practices, from interdisciplinary training 

15 programs, and when appropriate, other entities 

16 whose findings would inform the work per17 formed by entities awarded grants; 

18 ‘‘(B) compile and disseminate strategies 

19 and materials that prove to be effective in the 

20 provision of training and technical assistance so 

21 that the entire network can benefit from the 

22 models, materials, and practices developed in 

23 individual centers; 

24 ‘‘(C) assist in the coordination of activities 

25 of grantees under this subsection; 


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1 ‘‘(D) develop a Web portal that will pro2 vide linkages to each of the individual training 

3 initiatives and provide access to training mod4 ules, promising training, and technical assist5 ance practices and other materials developed by 

6 grantees; 

7 ‘‘(E) serve as a research-based resource for 

8 Federal and State policymakers on information 

9 concerning the provision of training and tech10 nical assistance for the assessment, and provi11 sion of supports and services for, children and 

12 adults with autism; 

13 ‘‘(F) convene experts from multiple inter14 disciplinary training programs, individuals with 

15 autism, and the families of such individuals to 

16 discuss and make recommendations with regard 

17 to training issues related to assessment, inter18 ventions, services, treatment, and supports for 

19 children and adults with autism; and 

20 ‘‘(G) undertake any other functions that 

21 the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 To carry out this subsection, there are authorized to 

24 be appropriated $17,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 


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1 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fis2 cal years 2012 through 2015. 

3 ‘‘(b) EXPANSION OF THE NUMBER OF UNIVERSITY

4 CENTERS FOR EXCELLENCE IN DEVELOPMENTAL DIS5 ABILITIES EDUCATION, RESEARCH, AND SERVICE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—To provide for the establish7 ment of up to 4 new University Centers for Excel8 lence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Re9 search, and Service, the Secretary shall award up to 

10 4 grants to institutions of higher education. 

11 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—Except for 

12 subsection (a)(3), the provisions of subsection (a) 

13 shall apply with respect to grants under this sub14 section to the same extent and in the same manner 

15 as such provisions apply with respect to grants 

16 under subsection (a). 

17 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

18 subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to appli19 cants that— 

20 ‘‘(A) are minority institutions that have 

21 demonstrated capacity to meet the requirements 

22 of this section and provide services to individ23 uals with autism and their families; or 

24 ‘‘(B) are located in a State with one or 

25 more underserved populations. 


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1 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 To carry out this subsection, there is authorized to 

3 be appropriated $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

4 2011 through 2015. 

5 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘autism’ means an autism spec7 trum disorder or a related developmental disability. 

8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘interventions’ means edu9 cational methods and positive behavioral support 

10 strategies designed to improve or ameliorate symp11 toms associated with autism. 

12 ‘‘(3) The term ‘minority institution’ has the 

13 meaning given to such term in section 365 of the 

14 Higher Education Act of 1965. 

15 ‘‘(4) The term ‘services’ means services to as16 sist individuals with autism to live more independ17 ently in their communities. 

18 ‘‘(5) The term ‘treatments’ means health serv19 ices, including mental health services, designed to 

20 improve or ameliorate symptoms associated with au21 tism. 

22 ‘‘(6) The term ‘University Center for Excellence 

23 in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, 

24 and Service’ means a University Center for Excel25 lence in Development Disabilities Education, ReVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:03 Jul 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5756.IH H5756

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1 search, and Service that has been or is funded 

2 through subtitle D or subsection (b).’’. 

Æ 


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