By Times of Trenton Editorial Board

     You’re a parent with a child on the autism spectrum and you’ve just gotten the phone call you’ve dreaded for a decade or so: “Your son (or daughter) has aged out of the system.”

     Every year, more and more fathers and mothers in New Jersey hear those words. They mean families no longer have access to the support systems that school-based programs provide for young adults who desperately need them.

     They mean, essentially, you’re on your own.

     U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th District) has shepherded through legislation authorizing $1.3 billion over five years to help ease this stark reality. His bill, co-sponsored by fellow congressman Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), requires federal agencies to address needs of these adolescents as they transition into adulthood.

     The legislation passed the U.S. Senate last week, with U.S. Senator Robert Menendez a key sponsor, and the House of Representative in June. Now it heads for President Obama’s desk.

     It deserves his immediate attention.

     Autism spectrum disorders, a cluster of neurobiological disorders that usually become evident in early childhood, affect one in 68 children nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

     In New Jersey, it’s one in 45 – the highest occurrence in CDC’s ranking by state.

     Smith says an estimated 50,000 young people with autism enter adulthood every year, becoming part of a greater community woefully unprepared to fill the gap. Clearly, this is a public-health crisis in the making.

     Known formally as the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act of 2014 (Autism CARES), Smith’s legislation sets aside money to continue to unlock the mysteries of autism, and to ensure that families have the tools they need once a diagnosis is made.

     Note well that his primary co-sponsor on the bill is a Democrat, and that the measure had 86 co-sponsors from both parties.

     Similar across-the-aisle cooperation was in play in the Garden State recently, when Gov. Christie signed a budget for the coming year that sets aside $250,000 in state funding for a statewide helpline.

     The advocacy group Autism New Jersey praises the strong efforts of Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Voorhees), as well as the Republican governor and Health Commissioner Mary O’Dowd.

     Smith has proven to be a longtime champion of the autism community; he wrote the original 2000 law creating a comprehensive federal response to the developmental disorder.

     We salute his compassion, and join him in hoping that the president’s signature comes sooner rather than later.

This article was originally printed on August 8, 2014 at:

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/08/editorial_autism_bill_to_help_transition_to_adulthood_deserves_president_obamas_signature.html