NJ - 'Independent autism council closer to reality '

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Independent autism council closer to reality

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

By ELISE YOUNG

TRENTON BUREAU

TRENTON -- The Governor's Council on Autism, which awards millions

of dollars to New Jersey-based researchers and clinicians, moved a

step closer to independence Monday.

Since 1999, administrators for the University of Medicine and

Dentistry of New Jersey have had the final word on who receives the

council's grants. But under a bill unanimously approved by the

Senate on Monday, those decisions would be left to members of the

council's board of directors.

Also, the council's chairman no longer would be the UMDNJ president,

but a board member chosen by majority vote.

UMDNJ is under the supervision of a federal monitor after the U.S.

Attorney's Office alleged corruption and mismanagement among top

administrators, including $243 million in overbilling, $104 million

in no-bid contracts and $88.3 million in questionable purchasing.

Investigators never suggested that the autism council's funds were

misused. But some board members had advocated distancing themselves

from UMDNJ to avoid any appearance of favoritism during the grants

process.

Judah Zeigler of Leonia, an autism council member who has a son with

the disorder, said the changes would be an improvement.

" It increases the transparency of the council, by requiring things

like an annual report to the Legislature, " he said.

In other changes, the board's membership would increase to 11, from

seven: four appointed by autism advocacy groups; three by the

administration of the University of Medicine and Dentistry; two by

the governor; and one each by the commissioner of Health and Senior

Services and the director of Rutgers' Environmental and Occupational

Health Sciences Institute.

The bill also stipulates that the council retain a full-time paid

director. The board hired its first one in August.

And in an acknowledgement that autistic children carry the disorder

for a lifetime, the board would drop the word " infantile " from its

formal name, to become the Governor's Council for Medical Research

and Treatment of Autism.

The bill needs a counterpart in the Assembly and the governor's

signature to become law.

Autism, a little-understood neurological disorder that affects

social behavior and communication, often manifests by age 3.

Researchers aren't sure whether the cause is environmental,

biological or a combination.

Some say that autism, which affects one in 166 births, is epidemic.

This year in New Jersey alone, the state Department of Education

classified 7,396 children as autistic. Fourteen years ago, the

figure was 234.

New Jersey officials established the council in 1999 with $1.5

million in seed money to provide seed money for research on causes

and treatments. Within a year, though, the council became mired in

administrative and budget problems. As the state headed into fiscal

crisis, the council's funding fluctuated wildly, and some years it

had no allocation.

The council didn't have the money to hire a full-time director, and

its secretary was a UMDNJ staffer " borrowed " to do council tasks as

time permitted. Record-keeping fell by the wayside; the board, which

was to meet monthly, convened less and less often. Through August of

this year, it managed to award $6 million -- but by its own

admission did little to track the results of grantees' work.

In 2003, Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, successfully sponsored a

bill to fund the council with $1 surcharges on motorists' moving-

violations fines. This year, board members for the first time had

enough money to hire a full-time director and staff, and in the next

several months they expect to hand out $10 million to researchers.

The proposal approved Monday also was sponsored by Weinberg.