OARacle Newsletter

The Autism CARES Act was signed by President Biden on December 23, becoming law just before 2024 became 2025. The Act renews and expands federal support for research, services, and training related to autism and other developmental disabilities through September 2029, as noted in a press release put out by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), a co-sponsor of the bill along with Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM).  The Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support (Autism CARES) Act of 2024 is the main source of federal funding for autism research, services, training, and monitoring.

The law includes these provisions:

• Over $2 billion in authorized federal spending on autism research and training programs for the next five years
• New language that directs the director of the National Institutes of Health to ensure a more inclusive approach to autism research
• A requirement that the Government Accountability Office issue a study and report on how to increase the number of developmental behavioral pediatricians
• The study of the aging process as a focus area of autism research activities to encourage future research on autism and aging
• Creation of a new Autism Intervention Research Network for Communication Needs (AIR-C) that will benefit autistic individuals who may be unable or limited in using speech or language to communicate

The CARES Act came into existence in 2007, expanding provisions first introduced in the Combating Autism Act of 2006, according to an article on The National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities website. Before the Combating Autism Act, there was virtually no policy that addressed autistic people’s needs. Today, CARES and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) program, established in the early 2000s, have contributed to the increase in research and policy activities as more and more children and adults were diagnosed with autism, with prevalence now at one in 36 children.

“OAR appreciates the commitment of the U.S. Congress and President Biden to improving policies and services for autistic people as well as continued funding that can support research, improve diagnosis, and enhance the lives of autistic people and their families,” noted Kristen Essex, OAR’s executive director. “OAR works daily to ensure the wellbeing of autistic people and contribute to the quality of their lives from childhood through adulthood. We could not do it with the support of federal legislation like the CARES Act.”

Sherri Alms is the freelance editor of The OARacle, a role she took on in 2007. She has been a freelance writer and editor for more than 20 years.