BILL NUMBER:  S5534

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing
the autism and African American, Latino and Asian children's advisory
council

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF THE BILL :

To create the autism and African American, Latino and Asian children's
advisory council

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1: States the mental hygiene will be amended to add the autism
and African American, Latino and Asian children's advisory council.

Section 1a: States the governmental officials that will choose the
seventeen members of the autism and African American, Latino and Asian
children's advisory council

Section 1b (1): States the duties of members of council shall include
but not be limited to coordinating resources and services to agencies
that help service African American, Latino and Asian children with
autism.
              

Section 1b (2): States that duties of members of council shall include
but not be limited to monitoring the actions of implementations of
their five year plan and yearly funding to ensure service to African
American, Latino and Asian children with autism

Section 1b (3): States that duties of members of council shall include
but not be limited to include any services, resources and policies
that could help further service African American, Latino and Asian
children with autism in the required annual report to legislature and
the governor

Section 1c: States that the autism and African American, Latino and
Asian children's advisory council will submit an annual report to
legislature and the governor that will include any suggestion of
policies, services, and funding that would allow them to further
service African American, Latino and Asian children with autism

Section 2: States this bill shall take effect sixtieth day after it
shall have become a law.

 JUSTIFICATION :

The need to create the autism and African American, Latino and Asian
children's advisory council is clearly evident because of the
statistics provided below.

Clinicians are underdiagnosing autism in children from low-income
minority families, setting back the potential of the children
benefitting from therapy.

The Child Center of New York in Flushing, Queens, found that
applications for general counseling services have risen sharply in the
past two decades, from 250 in 1993 to 1,700 in 2012. But Most of these
inquiries are made by schools and not individual families. A study in
2011 titled Autism and African American Community found that even
though the rate of diagnosis is similar throughout all racial groups,
African American children will receive a diagnosis later than White
children will. This will cause the children to be deprived from the

services they need and lead to more intensive therapies compared to if
they had been diagnosed earlier.

Autism in minority children is being written off as "troubled kids",
having lack of discipline at home or misdiagnosed with ADHD, mental
retardation or organic psychosis. Even when taken to a professional to
be diagnosed, some physicians will rely on stereotypes to guide their
diagnosis of a child rather than rely on science and will not attend
to the child's needs properly.

These factors are leading to the child being misdiagnosed. Low-income
minority families with low education have a harder time entering the
early intervention system causing them to not be able to properly care
for their children. Analyzing data collected in 2010 by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that children
from high-income families are roughly 81 percent more likely to
receive an autism diagnosis than those from low-income families.

Celine Saulnier, clinical director for research at the Marcus Autism
Center in Atlanta, and her team analyzed clinical data collected from
95 black children diagnosed with Autism and 60 white children with
diagnosed with Autism. They found that 53 of the 95 children had an IQ
of 70; as a group the black children's verbal inelegance was 20 points
less than the white children. Saulnier's team also found that even
those who have an IQ over 70, the black children's have lower language
and communication skills compared to the white children.  This is all
due to the neglect of minority children with Autism. The lack of early
diagnosis and access to early intervention services is the cause of
the problem discovered by Ms. Saulnier. Language minorities and new
immigrants with children with Autism or with Asperger syndrome are
also hindered by low incomes in seeking help for their children.

Many minority families are not able to afford specialist that would
help treat their children and lack of transportation and even the lack
of flexible work schedules continue to impede access to services for
their children. These and many factors are issues that Autism and
African American, Latino and Asian children's advisory council will
help resolve through its collaboration with the NYS Office of Mental
Health and the creation of mandated five year plans on its work.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New bill

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill shall take effect sixtieth day after it shall have become a
law.