Oregon Watchdog: Rep. Edwards tapped to lead Oregon Autism Project

Oregon Legislature
House Majority Office

PRESS RELEASE: May 23, 2008
CONTACT: Geoff Sugerman,503-986-1904

Rep. Edwards Tapped To Lead Oregon Autism Project

For State Rep. Chris Edwards (D-Eugene), chairing a new work group on autism is just an extension of his family life. Edwards’ kindergarten age son has autism, and while he believes the services provided by the state are helpful, he believes Oregon can do a better job.

State Reps. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland) and Mitch Greenlick (D-Portland) agree. Buckley, chair of the House Education Committee and Greenlick, who chairs the House Health Care Committee, asked Edwards to lead the work group in looking at ways to help children and adults with autism as they prepare for the 2009 legislative session

“There are thousands of Oregon families with children who have autism… and that number is growing every day as we get better at diagnosing the various forms this disorder takes in different people,” said Rep. Edwards. “Our goal in this Oregon Autism Project is to assess the services we now provide, see how we can do a better job with our existing resources, and develop a plan to implement should we come into new resources.”

Joining Edwards on the workgroup are representatives from the Oregon Department of Education and the Department of Human Services, as well as other legislative members. A number of legislators either have family members with autism or have been educated by constituents with family members.

At its first meeting earlier this week, Edwards said the first step will be to assess current services, investigate other states’ best practices and work to bring the various components of autism services in the education and health sector together.

Buckley said integration or “wraparound” among agencies has been a common theme of recent legislative efforts.

“When we have multiple public and private agencies providing services to the same groups of people – whether that be in school or in the community – it makes sense for us to ensure these agencies work closely together, communicate about what’s working best and avoid duplication of effort,” said Buckley. “Our state agencies work better and provide more effective services when the Legislature brings them together to talk about common goals and services, and how we can provide them more effectively.”

Greenlick, chair of the House Health Care Committee, agreed. “We all know our health care dollars are scarce and that we need to be smart about how we leverage those dollars to serve the most people we can. That means going after federal match dollars. It means integrating efforts to provide a more seamless delivery of service. And it means constantly looking for the best practices that are available,” said Greenlick. “We believe this autism work group will help improve services to children and adults across the spectrum.”

For Edwards, it’s a little more personal. “Every day my family, and thousands of others across Oregon, work and study and communicate about the needs of our children who have autism. Every day we try to make life a little better for our kids. And if there is more that we can do to improve those services, this work group is the right place to start,” said Edwards.
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