Posted by: Francis Koster Published: August 29, 2024

Autism Research Consortium Grant (Exp. April 23, 2025)

Purpose

The Health Resources and Services Administration Research Consortium Program enables research about effective and scalable interventions and services that address the diverse and complex needs of autistic children and their families.  Parent-reported data from the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) documented that 3.6% of children ages 3-17 years had a current diagnosis of autism, representing nearly 2.2 million children and adolescents.  Autistic children have higher rates of co-occurring mental and behavioral health conditions compared to children without autism, and access to adequate health care is a significant challenge for children with autism.  Of particular concern are the disparities in timing of diagnosis, access to services, and quality of care.

Eligible Entities

The following types of organizations are eligible to apply for funding:

  • Independent school districts
  • Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS
  • Public and Private institutions of higher education
  • State, county, city or township governments
  • Special district governments
  • For profit organizations, including small businesses
  • Native American tribal governments and organizations

Eligible Activities

Autism Research Consortium recipients will focus on children or adolescents with autism and other developmental disabilities (DD) while engaging in one or more the following activities over a three-year period of performance:

  • Develop research-practice partnerships with community organizations, people and families with lived experience and Maternal and Child Health Bureau programs
  • Improve systems of care by translating and implementing evidence-based interventions to improve physical and behavioral health of children with autism and other DD across the lifespan.
  • Advance the evidence base on effective interventions, services, supports, and systems for children and adolescents with autism and other DD.

More specifically, grant recipients must address one or more of the priority topics listed within one of five chosen categories:

Category 1: Interventions related to physical health
• Healthy lifestyle factors such as nutrition, physical activity, or sleep, with the aim of reducing preventable morbidity and premature mortality.
• Physical health conditions that disproportionately impact children and adolescents with autism, such as obesity and oral health.
• Unmet physical health service needs for children and adolescents with autism.

Category 2: Interventions related to behavioral health
• Behavioral health concerns that disproportionately impact children and adolescents with autism, such as anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
• Unmet behavioral health service needs for children and adolescents with autism.

Category 3: Systems of care
Accelerate the implementation of effective evidence-based interventions at the systems level. Interventions should aim to improve timely screening and diagnosis, and access to appropriate care, services, and support to improve physical and/or behavioral health outcomes and reduce disparities at the population level. Proposals should focus on one or more of these systems:
• Health care systems
• School systems
• Community settings
• Other systems that support children and adolescents with autism

Category 4: Clinical innovations for developmentalbehavioral pediatrics (DBP)
Advance the evidence base in the developmental, behavioral, and psychosocial aspects of pediatric care. Develop, evaluate, and incorporate effective interventions into clinical services to improve physical and behavioral health for children and adolescents with
autism and other DD across the lifespan.

Category 5: Interventions related to communication needs
Advance the evidence base for novel interventions and support strategies to address communication challenges of children and adolescents with autism and other DD across the lifespan. Approaches can incorporate use of new technologies and should address the various communication needs across the autism spectrum.

Award

Estimated Total Program Funding:  $5,000,000

Estimated Number of Awards:  5

Award Ceiling:  $1,000,000

Important Dates

Deadline to Submit Application:  April 23, 2025

Next Steps

Find and download the Full Announcement by following the link provided and choosing "Related Documents" in the horizontal menu.

If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact Deborah Quint Shelef and Emmie Perchak at (240)460-5221 or email autism_rc@hrsa.gov.

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