NCSA Hill Brief: Declaring Autism a Public Health Emergency — 2025
Hill Brief | March 2025
To: HHS Secretary / U.S. Congress
Re: Urging Declaration of Autism as a Public Health Emergency Under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act
Prepared by the National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA) — March 2025
DECLARING AUTISM A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
Addressed to: HHS Secretary and U.S. Congress
BACKGROUND
One in 36 children in the United States has autism spectrum disorder. Of those, 26.7% meet criteria for profound autism — defined as nonverbal or minimally verbal with an IQ below 50 (Hughes et al., 2023). These individuals require lifelong, 24/7 support. The Lord et al. 2022 Lancet Commission identified autism as a full-scale public health crisis requiring immediate and coordinated federal action. Despite this, autism has never received the emergency designation that would unlock the resources and coordination this crisis demands.
THE ASK
NCSA urges the HHS Secretary to declare autism a Public Health Emergency (PHE) under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act.
FIVE REASONS A PHE DECLARATION IS NEEDED
1. Accelerate Research. An emergency declaration would fast-track federal funding and coordination for research into causes, treatments, and interventions — particularly for the profound autism subpopulation that has been systematically excluded from most federal autism research.
2. Expand Services. Emergency authority enables rapid deployment of Medicaid waivers, HCBS supports, and crisis services without the years-long administrative delays that currently leave families without help.
3. Increase Funding. Emergency declarations unlock supplemental appropriations and redirect existing federal resources toward immediate needs — staffing, residential capacity, crisis infrastructure.
4. Develop Workforce. The direct support professional shortage is a co-occurring emergency. PHE status enables expedited workforce development programs and training pipeline investments.
5. Strengthen Family Support. Emergency designation would trigger coordinated family support programming, crisis respite, and federal recognition of the catastrophic caregiving burden borne by families with profoundly autistic members.
CONCLUSION
26.7% of U.S. 8-year-old children with autism have profound autism (Hughes et al., 2023). The population of adults with severe autism continues to surge, aging out of school systems into an adult services infrastructure that has no capacity to serve them. Emergency rooms and law enforcement have become the default crisis response. This is not acceptable. This is not sustainable.
National Council on Severe Autism urges the HHS Secretary to declare autism a Public Health Emergency and direct all relevant federal agencies to mobilize the resources, coordination, and urgency this crisis demands.
Prepared by: National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA) | NCSAutism.org | policy@ncsautism.org
