Pallone Announces $2,200,000 Grant for Autism Training to The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities
Washington, DC --- Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced that The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities at Rutgers University has received a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disorders (LEND) Training Program grant totaling $2,200,000 over five years. The Health Resources and Service Administration grant will be put towards the Center’s crucial work on developmental disabilities, including autism. The grant will also help the Boggs center in its work in outreach to minority communities, which are often underserved.
A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found that one in 41 children is diagnosed with autism in New Jersey, a 12 percent increase in two years. Although New Jersey has consistently observed the highest rate of Autism in the nation, the state is one of 13 without a LEND program. That report also found gaps between diagnosis and the necessary services—which the Boggs Center will address through increasing the capacity of New Jersey’s provider community to perform critical early interventions.
“The work being done at the Boggs Center is extraordinary and has the potential to help families in New Jersey and throughout the country,” said Pallone. “That’s why it is so important that Boggs has the tools it needs to continue its good work. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle must fund both the medical research that allows us to better understand autism and the services that allow those diagnosed to live healthy and fulfilling lives.”
“The award of a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program will enable The Boggs Center, part of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, to positively impact the lives of New Jersey’s children, young adults and families living with autism,” said Deborah M. Spitalnik, PhD, Executive Director of The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities. “With Children’s Specialized Hospital as a primary clinical training partner, and collaborations forged across disciplines at Rutgers, NJLEND will provide interdisciplinary clinical and leadership education to develop a cadre of future professionals to address the complex needs of New Jersey’s children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families from birth through the transition to adulthood. “
“The Boggs Center has a long and rich history of leadership in the developmental disabilities community,” said Dr. Suzanne Buchanan, Executive Director of Autism New Jersey. “Through this grant, they will expand their work to address critical needs in our community by increasing access to well-trained medical and behavioral health professionals and expanding their reach to underserved communities. We look forward to partnering with the entire LEND team here in New Jersey to maximize the impact that these public funds can have for individuals with autism.”
The Boggs Center is New Jersey’s federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and is part of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Pediatrics. Since its inception in 1983, The Center has emphasized a community based, lifespan approach to meeting the needs of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.
In May, Congressman Pallone wrote a letter in support of the grant. The text can be found below:
May 13, 2016
Dear Administrator Macrae,
The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities is housed within the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Pediatrics and serves as New Jersey’s federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. With the merger of Rutgers and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), the Center enjoys access to a wide array of resources from the full range of clinical and academic disciplines. Through an interdisciplinary and evidence-based approach, the Center delivers student and community training and technical assistance, conducts research, and disseminates information about developmental disabilities.
In order to extend the reach of these programs and further build capacity to meet the needs of New Jersey’s developmentally disabled community, the Boggs Center has applied for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Division of Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development, Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Grant. These funds will help the Center to train health care professionals and develop leaders within New Jersey’s health, education, and community institutions. Knowing the scale of the need for their services and having personally seen the impact of their work, I fully support their application for this important grant.
Since its founding in 1983, the Boggs Center has played a vital role in both the Rutgers and the Greater New Brunswick communities that is consistent with the legacy of the Center’s namesake, Elizabeth M. Boggs. The Center not only develops a greater clinical understanding of developmental disabilities, it endeavors to translate that understanding back to the community, with the goal of enabling the participation of the developmentally disabled in society.
Though the Boggs Center has built considerable capacity to do this work, its designation as a LEND program would greatly benefit the state of New Jersey. The state has observed the highest rate of ASD diagnoses in the nation, with 1 in 41 individuals being diagnosed. And while the higher rate of diagnosis speaks to the work of those in the state to increase awareness amongst families and providers, more work is needed to translate this awareness to the widespread delivery of effective and early interventions. Furthermore, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recently-released “Community Report on Autism” suggests, there remain significant racial and ethnic disparities with regard to early interventions, which remain particularly stark in Latino and African American communities.
For this reason, I’d like to highlight the Boggs Center’s work in promoting cultural competency and its work with diverse populations. The Center is situated in a highly diverse area of Middlesex County, surrounded by majority-minority communities that directly benefit from the services provided by the Center. Furthermore, through formal institutional mechanisms like the Consumer Advisory Council, these communities have also been empowered to promote a greater understanding of how best to reach these groups and engage in collaborative efforts to improve the lives of those with developmental disabilities. This asset to the Center will only be enhanced in the near future with the completion of the “Rutgers Health” initiative, a collaboration among private sector health providers and the Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-Camden campuses, which serve some of the most diverse communities in the most diverse state in the nation.
Now that New Jersey has expanded eligibility for its Medicaid program while enacting private insurance reforms to guarantee full coverage of the treatment of autism spectrum disorders, including access to applied behavior analysis, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy, there are mechanisms in place to ensure that those with diagnoses can access to the necessary care. Through increased capacity at the Boggs Center, we can ensure that the care delivered to these patients meets the highest clinical standards and reflects the most current research on ASD.
Through the passage of the Autism CARES Act, the LEND program has been expanded to include the development of resources in regard to autism spectrum disorders. Congress called for the greater implementation of efforts to address the rise in autism diagnoses, which has yet to be reflected in New Jersey. The receipt of HRSA LEND Grant funding will allow the Boggs Center to reach a greater number of families and ensure that their diagnosis is met with the proper resources to enable individuals to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
The Boggs Center provides a vital service to the state of New Jersey and has made considerable contributions to the field. I fully support its application for the HRSA LEND Grant and hope that you recognize the potential of its application to improve the quality of care for New Jersey’s developmental disability community.
Sincerely,
FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress
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