Eastern Michigan University’s Autism Collaboration Center was recently awarded a $500,000 grant from the state of Michigan. The grant was included in next year’s state budget for the Michigan Department of Community Health, which was passed by the Michigan State House and the Senate, but is still waiting to be approved by Governor Rick Snyder.
“This grant will help our center’s staff to continue their exceptional and distinctive work in helping Michigan’s families,” EMU President Susan Martin said in a May 31 press release.
Jann Joseph, dean of the College of Education, oversees the operations of the Autism Collaboration Center. She explained some of the new services the center will be offering funded through grant money.
“The ACC will begin offering a much needed and requested service in the community: Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA,” she said. “This specialized evidenced-based treatment for autism involves a heavy staffing model and strong supervision. The EMU department of Psychology will be instrumental in helping the ACC to establish and grow this aspect of service delivery.”
As a community-based organization, the center is a not-for-profit business. Paid clinicians assess and provide treatment services to individuals and families.
“We also have paid staff to handle the operational needs of the organization. We are preparing to launch a comprehensive Telehealth program and will begin accepting private insurance by the end of the year,” Joseph said.
According to a statement released by the university, “This year’s grant follows last year’s state grant which was also for $500,000, which is being used to establish a Telehealth model that will use a live video stream to evaluate and treat clients.”
The ACC offers free or low cost family services in the form of support groups, educational workshops, child care and counseling. They also offer occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, recreational therapy, music therapy, social work services, counseling, diagnostic services, psychology, academic tutoring, therapeutic social skills development, play groups and a summer camp starting in July.
The center is located at 1055 Cornell Road in Ypsilanti and is open 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Monday – Thursday and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Friday.
