The Project, which started on September 1, 2024, aims to develop and advance national, state, and local/community frameworks that support a successful transition from child to adult serving systems for youth with autism and/or epilepsy who have complex health and social needs and require a higher level of family support and coordination.
The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) is pleased to have been awarded a $3.4 million cooperative agreement from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA MCHB) to form the new National Coordinating Center on Transition. AMCHP will work closely with partners at Family Voices, Child Trends, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), alongside other national experts working collaboratively with a National Transition Advisory Council that will be comprised of at least 50% of young people and family members/caregivers.
This five-year project aims to develop and advance national, state, and local/community-level frameworks that support a successful transition from child to adult serving systems for youth with autism and/or epilepsy who have complex health and social needs and require a higher level of family support and coordination. AMCHP and its partners will provide national leadership to improve transition outcomes for youth and their families/caregivers through training, technical assistance, evaluation, and the development and dissemination of resources to transition stakeholders, including Title V programs. The Center will specifically be tasked with supporting a total of 11 HRSA-MCHB funded Transition for Youth with Autism (4 grants) and/or Epilepsy (7 grants) Demonstration Projects in meeting their program objectives of implementing and evaluating innovative, sustainable, and scalable strategies to support youth and their families/caregivers in successfully transitioning from child to adult serving systems. Information on the Transition Program and a list of grantees can be found on the Transition for Youth With Autism and/or Epilepsy | MCHB (hhs.gov) webpage.
“Creating a comprehensive, quality system of care for young people with disabilities and complex health needs remains a leading challenge for health leaders and other stakeholders such as jurisdictional Title V programs, health care and hospital systems, educators, workforce and employment training programs, independent community living programs, and families,” said Terrance E. Moore, Chief Executive Officer of AMCHP. “This National Center is an opportunity to model collaboration and partnerships by bringing together those agencies with historically marginalized and underserved young people and their families/caregivers to advance successful cross-sector transition outcomes for all youth with disabilities such as autism and epilepsy.”
Through national leadership and technical assistance, the National Center and its partners will provide capacity building support to the 11 Demonstration Projects and transition stakeholders as they seek to implement strategies that support successful transition and will allow all young people to enjoy full lives, thrive in a system that supports their unique transition needs, and be active participants in their communities, as actualized in HRSA’s Blueprint for Change.
This project will build on and expand previous efforts by HRSA to improve the system of services and supports for children and youth with autism and epilepsy, including HRSA’s longstanding investments in AMCHP’s State Public Health Autism Resource Center (cooperative agreement for the State Public Health Coordinating Center for Autism funded from 2008-2023) and AAP’s National Coordinating Center for Epilepsy (cooperative agreement for Awareness and Access to Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy funded from 2013-2023).
This project is supported by HRSA of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U2L53184 – National Coordinating Center on Transition (NCCT) for $3,436,540 over five years. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Encourage confidence to act