Information Services Director Appointed to Steering Committee

Autism New Jersey Information Services Director, Jon Gottlieb, Esq., has been appointed to the Support Coordinator Competency and Capacity Building Steering Committee to represent the needs of the autism community as reported to the agency’s 800.4.AUTISM Helpline and offer insight into the complex and nuanced experiences of families of adults with autism, adult self-advocates, and the professionals who support them.

The New Jersey Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), in collaboration with The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities at Rutgers, launched the committee earlier this year and includes representatives from various stakeholder groups including individuals with disabilities, families, division staff, advocacy organizations, service providers, support coordination agencies, and frontline support coordinators.

The committee is charged with making recommendations for the development of a certification program for support coordinators to aid in the development of a statewide training framework, which will include mandatory pre-service training, initial onboarding training, and ongoing professional development.

In addition to creating a tiered framework for support coordinator competencies and certification, supervisor competencies will be adopted, and multi-level training content will be reviewed and developed.

“The callers to our 800.4.AUTISM Helpline have highly individualized and specialized needs,” said Gottlieb. “We’ve seen time and again how a great support coordinator can make all the difference. I’m honored to be a member of this esteemed group dedicated to identifying fundamental elements and best practices in support coordination to expand access to person-centered and life-enhancing services.”