The 2019 Autism CARES Meeting was held in-person on July 18-19 at the historic Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington, DC. It was an opportunity for MCHB-funded CARES legislation grantees (i.e. individuals engaged in research, training, and state systems efforts) to share information, discuss emerging trends, and facilitate meaningful collaboration.

Meeting Theme: 

The theme for this year's meeting was Ten Years of Autism CARES Act Programs: Improving the Lives of People with ASD/DD, their Families, and Communities. Content was organized around three strands, described in plain language below:

• "Increasing Equity" means making the system more fair. Some people with ASD/DD have a hard time accessing doctors, jobs and other services because of their race, income or other identities. This strand will focus on how we are making life better for people with disadvantages.
• "Improving Systems Performance" means getting programs and providers to work together so more people can get their needs met, both now and in the future. People with ASD/DD often need many different services to help them live in their communities. This strand will focus on ways that programs connect with each other to reach common goals.
• "Achieving Population-Level Outcomes" means making things better for whole communities, not just for one person at a time. We can measure how things are getting better with numbers like employment rates or school statistics. This strand will focus on how we know if we are improving life for whole groups of people.

Note about language: Recognizing that the autism community has diverse opinions about terminology related to the identities of autistic individuals/individuals with autism, we will be following the language used by Congress within the Autism CARES legislation: "individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities" or the related abbreviation "ASD/DD."

Meeting Materials and Resources:

See the "Download" box at the top right for a copy of the final agenda.

Plenary Sessions

Slides are available (see below) from three of the four plenary sessions.

Plenary II

• 2014-2017 CARES Evaluation Highlights, Leticia Manning (MCHB)
• Grantee impact mini key-note presentations
  • Research: Judith Miller (PA) - framing by Elizabeth Morgan (CA)
  • Training: Karen Ward (AK) - framing by Michael Thornton (AR)
  • State Systems: Dafne Carnright and Ivanka Carbajal (DE) - framing by Joanee Qunn (RI)
• "Autism CARES Act 101" e-learning module preview, Kate Taft (AMCHP)

Plenary III

• CARES Evaluation next steps, Lisa Hund and Monica Lathan-Dye (2M Research)
• Policy update, Rylin Rodgers (AUCD)
• "Partnerships and Collaboration with Communiity-Based Organizations" model round table discussion, facilitated by Toni Whitaker (TN)

Plenary IV

• Closing keynote: "Washington State Systems of Care for Autism: Collaboration is in our DNA!" (presented by Jen Gerdts, Michelle Hoffman, Jim Mancini, Kate Orville, and Zack Siddeek)

Concurrent Sessions

A complete list of concurrent sessions can be found in the "Downloads" box at the top right of this page in the document titled "Thursday Supplement." Download concurrent session presentations through the link below.  Click here to view slides from all concurrent sessions.

Poster Symposia

Select a meeting strand from the list below to view the electronic (.pdf) copies of individual posters presented during that symposium.

Increasing Equity

Improving Systems Performance

Achieving Population-Level Outcomes

Structured Networking Sessions

• Conversations that Matter (Thursday) Notes
• Topical Small Group (Friday) Notes
• Regional Small Group (Friday) Notes