Project Committees and Staff
Oversight Committee - Advisory Committee - Department of Developmental Services - Content Experts & Consultants - Project Staff
The Oversight Committee (OC) serves to provide, on behalf of DDS and CDE, leadership and general oversight for the project. Rick Ingraham, Manager, Children and Family Services Branch, DDS, chairs the Committee. The OC is responsible for formulating the scope of the project and advising the project’s contractor on the work plan and project timeline. Additionally, members of the OC will work collaboratively to determine the policies regarding the processes by which evidence-based treatments and interventions are selected for inclusion in the development of the Guidelines document.
In addition the OC will:
- Attend Advisory Committee meetings and meetings soliciting public input, as appropriate;
- Advise the Director of DDS on suitable candidates to serve on the project’s Advisory Committee;
- Coordinate with the California Legislative Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism;
- Coordinate with the National Standards Project;
- Coordinate with other relevant state government agencies and departments on the project’s plans and anticipated outcomes;
- Review final Guidelines document for submission to DDS.
Members of the OC will include the following:
- Advisory Committee co-chairs
- Advisory Committee chair emeritus
- Advisory Committee vice chairs
- DDS representative
- Contractor staff and consultant
- Two members at-large.
The Advisory Committee (AC) is composed of representatives of key stakeholder groups with a specific interest in and commitment to developing best practice treatment guidelines for persons with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). These stakeholder groups include the following: regional centers, public policy developers, direct service providers, public service institutions, advocacy groups, parent groups, school districts/SELPAs, managed care, and relevant state departments. Members of the Advisory Committee are serving at the request of the Director of the California Department of Developmental Services.
The role of AC members is to work collaboratively to offer advice and recommendations on resources useful to the project, provide direction for development of guideline content, and ensure that the interests of the groups they represent are reflected in the evidence-based guidelines. Consensus among AC members is essential to the guideline development process.
The Advisory Committee has co-chairs as well as a chair emeritus. The co-chairs, Patrick Maher, M.D. and Sandee Kludt, Ed.D., provide overall leadership to the project and serve as the project’s spokespersons. Working with project staff and consultants, they will strive to reach consensus among AC members on the content of the Guidelines. As spokespersons, they will advocate for the need for improved treatment for persons with ASD. Specifically, they will guide families, the professionals who care for families, educators, and policy makers toward evidence-based treatments and interventions. Importantly, they will work with the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to build support for the project and disseminate and implement the final Guidelines.
The chair emeritus for this project is Howard G. Cohen, Ph.D. Dr. Cohen was co-director of a similar project that produced a companion document, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Best Practice Guidelines for Screening, Diagnosis and Assessment. Dr. Cohen advises on both the content and collaborative processes that are integral to the success of this project.
The Committee also has vice chairs to assist the Committee co-chairs, as needed. One vice chair, Ronald C. Huff, Ph.D., has in-depth knowledge of community-based treatments and interventions for persons with ASD. The other vice chair, Allan Lloyd-Jones, has in-depth knowledge of school-based interventions for persons with ASD.
Responsibilities of AC members include the following:
- Attend three advisory committee meetings over the next two years. The first meeting is planned for Spring 2006. The daylong meeting’s purpose will be to review the scientific evidence for a range of treatments and interventions for persons with ASD. Project staff and consultants will prepare materials for review by Committee members drawing from the work of the National Research Council publication, “Educating Children with Autism”, the National Standards Project, and relevant literature and other guidelines that have been published by states and other institutions. The purpose of the second meeting will be to review recommendations from the public regarding best practices and processes used to fully implement these treatments and interventions. The purpose of the third meeting will be to discuss and develop consensus on the final draft of the Guidelines document.
- Attend meetings in which the opinions of the public on treatment and interventions will be solicited to inform the development of the Guidelines.
- Review draft chapters of the Guidelines document for accuracy and acceptability to the interest group they represent.
- Communicate regularly with the interest group they represent about the progress of the development of the Guidelines document.
While the Advisory Committee will be providing input on the outline for the document, multiple experts on effective, evidence-based interventions will be contributing content. Experts will be chosen by the contractor with advice from the project Oversight Committee based on the following criteria.
Projects experts will:
- Have a broad overview of the evidence-based research on interventions for persons (age 0-22) with autistic spectrum disorders;
- Have specialized knowledge within topic areas specified in the Section or Subsection in which they are contributing content; and
- Have knowledge of current ASD treatment practices in use in California, as well as knowledge about how these treatment practices are, or are not, endorsed by the professional and clinical groups which work with this population; and
- Have experience in analyzing and synthesizing outcomes research.
More than one expert may contribute to the content of one particular section or subsection. In this case, consensus must be reached among the experts.
The Writer(s) will receive a general content outline with identified sections and subsections as recommended by the Advisory Committee.
The Writer(s) will:
- Receive content from experts and other CIHS staff
- Incorporate the content into the outline, as appropriate;
- Ensure language / writing style consistency; and
- Ensure document follows APA style manual.
Throughout the writing of the draft document, there will be multiple opportunities (in person, electronic, conference calls) for the AC, OC and public to offer recommendations and comments on the draft document. The writer will collaborate closely with CIHS staff to review and integrate these suggestions, as appropriate. Upon completion of the above tasks, the Writer(s) will submit the document to DDS and the Advisory and Oversight Committees. Feedback will be gathered and the Writer(s) will edit per the recommended changes, as appropriate. The Writer(s) will then collaborate with CIHS staff to format the document in preparation for placement on a website. The final document will be submitted to DDS for final review and approval.