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Technical Assistance Planning (TAP) Grant
In light of the challenges surrounding autism services in Arizona, the coalition planning committee clearly recognized the need for better coordination among stakeholders in order to address the challenges faced by families, including an increasing population, the tremendous cost of treatment, and the maze of services through which families must navigate in Arizona. Consequently, in 2006, the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC) secured a Technical Assistance Planning (TAP) grant from St. Luke’s Health Initiatives (SLHI) to convene Maricopa County agencies who serve children and families living with an ASD. The TAP group included SARRC, the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, Specializing in the Education of Exceptional Kids (S.E.E.K.), Southwest Human Development, and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP).

These agencies came together, with the assistance of a facilitator, in an effort to 1) establish processes between the agencies to discuss resources, best practices, and evaluation, and 2) create a draft plan for an advocacy and public policy agenda. The group penned a Statement of Needs (included in packet) regarding services in Arizona, which was circulated to a broad list of stakeholders for feedback. The resulting document emphasizes that the alarming increase in children with ASDs has placed increasing demands on state services, and stresses that the autism knowledge base within the medical, educational and therapeutic settings must be expanded to accommodate this trend. In order to move forward, the TAP group recognized the critical need to continue collaborating beyond the term of the SLHI grant in order to develop plans to improve access to services, and standardize the practices among professionals working with individuals with ASDs.

Proposed Solution: Arizona Autism Services Coalition
In the spring of 2007, the original TAP group continued to meet despite the expiration of the SLHI planning grant, and expanded its informal membership to include seven additional providers in monthly meetings in order to stay abreast of state and federal legislation impacting Arizona’s autism community. In the hopes of cementing this informal partnership, the founding organizations, including SARRC, H.O.P.E. Group, S.E.E.K. Arizona, Arizona Autism Support, Chrysalis Academy/Play ABA, UCP, Southwest Human Development, Guthrie Mainstream Services, GREAT Kids, Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, Loden Group, and A.S.S.I.S.T. Corp., proposed to launch the “Arizona Autism Services Coalition” (Coalition). The founders  held several meetings to plan the launch of the Coalition and to hold preliminary discussions about its goals and infrastructure.

On July 15, 2007, the founders hosted a Kick-Off Event for the Coalition at the Autism Society of America (ASA) Conference in Phoenix at Kierland Commons. Over 150 invitations were sent to statewide stakeholders, including members of the medical, educational, and therapeutic professional communities. The purpose of the Kick-Off Event was to explain the overall objective(s) of the Coalition and invite interested parties to join the effort. Once the event established a strong interest in creating a formal state-wide Coalition, an official proposal prepared by Lisa Glow and Holly Baumann of SARRC, was sent to LodeStar to establish the initial funding of the project. LodeStar agreed to fund the Coalition for the first two years with a provision of 10% matching funds in year one, 15% matching funds in year two, and $25,000 in privately-raised funds.

Coalition Goals and Objectives
The overall intent of the Coalition is to become an inclusive membership organization guided by the mission of collaboration and advocacy. The Coalition has selected priorities, which include:

• Advocating jointly for better services and improved quality of life for persons with ASDs at the city, state, and federal levels
• Educating professionals who interface with affected children
• Identifying gaps in reaching those who would utilize training
• Expanding the distribution of early identification and early intervention information to families via hospitals, medical offices, schools, daycare centers or any organization that comes in contact with children ages 0-5
• Evaluating all ASD provider services and to come to agreement as to the best standards and practices and implementing those agreed upon standards and practices locally, statewide and nationwide
• Developing active collaborations and cooperative partnerships
• Developing a coordinated approach to addressing the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) and the Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) funding cutbacks
• Identifying unique missions of the various ASD service providers to avoid duplication of services
• Building alliances with respected peers, fostering community allies and promoting community involvement