Welcome, Case Managers!

Autism New Jersey is proud to announce our partnership with the NJ Department of Health’s Special Child Health Services (SCHS) Case Management Units (CMU) as the designated Autism Resource Specialist.

Autism New Jersey’s 800.4.AUTISM Helpline specialists are available to collaborate with SCHS Case Managers as they support children with autism and their families and address their educational, treatment, and service navigation needs.

Autism New Jersey staff are excited to work closely with professionals as compassionate and resourceful as SCHS’s Case Managers. It is our hope that our work together strengthens New Jersey’s autism community and empowers SCHS’s clients and their families.

Connect with Us

PHONE
SCHS Case Managers can reach a helpline specialist on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m by calling 800.4.AUTISM. Voice mail messages are regularly returned during the week within 24 hours. For best results, leave a description of your availability for a return call along with an explanation of your issue.
EMAIL
SCHS Case Managers can also email any inquiries to information@autismnj.org.

IMPORTANT: Including “SCHS Case Management” in the subject line of an email inquiry will enable our helpline specialists to correctly identify and prioritize each SCHS Case Manager message.
WEBSITE
Our website also has a wealth of information. Case Managers can visit our list of articles and search by topic, browse our landing pages for specific age-related concerns, and download publications for free.

Topics of Interest

Special Education

We provide Case Mangers with the support to understand and address their clients’ educational, behavioral, and social-emotional concerns and assist them in guiding families to make informed decisions regarding their child’s needs.

Our helpline specialists also work closely and collaboratively with SCHS Case Management to ensure the families of their active clients have a comprehensive understanding of, and are well prepared for, their child’s IEP meetings. If any issues arise, our staff can help the families of individuals with autism understand their educational rights and the dispute resolution mechanisms that may be available to them.

Service Navigation

Our understanding and experienced staff has in-depth knowledge of New Jersey resources and service systems. These areas of expertise include modes of treatment, state-funded services throughout the lifespan, safety and crisis planning, family support, and much more.

We can also provide individualized needs assessments and make every effort to match those needs with the appropriate resources in a client’s local area.

Insurance/Medicaid

The regulations, policies, and laws concerning health insurance change swiftly. Available funding for autism treatment – under both commercial health insurance plans and Medicaid – has greatly expanded in recent years.

Most children with autism in New Jersey have healthcare coverage for some type of treatment benefit. We are happy to help SCHS Case Managers understand what coverage is available for their clients and troubleshoot any insurance-related issues they may have with a service provider or insurance company.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should my client do if they’re denied eligibility for special education services?

If a child is determined ineligible for special education services, their parent can challenge that determination by requesting mediation or filing for due process.

New Jersey is required under federal law to have policies to ensure that all children with disabilities residing in New Jersey and who are in need of special education and related services must be identified, located, and evaluated. Those policies are set out in the New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C.) chapter on special education.

Read more

The responsibility to identify, locate, and evaluate children suspected of having a disability, also known as “Child Find” activities, extends even to those students who are advancing from grade to grade. N.J.A.C. 6A:14-1.1(b)(3). The simple fact that a child is meeting their requirements for grade promotion does not disqualify them from eligibility.

A child is eligible for special education and related services if they:

  1. Have a disability defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.5(c)1-14 (autism is one of the defined classifications of disability under the code),
  2. That disability affects the child’s educational performance, and
  3. The child needs special education and related services.

After a parent refers their child for special education and related services, the school district must make a determination of eligibility and provide that determination in writing to the parent. If the parent disagrees with that determination, the inquiry doesn’t need to end there. They are not required to simply accept the school district’s position. Instead, the parent can request mediation or a due process hearing to resolve the dispute over their child’s eligibility.


What should my client do if their residency in a school district is challenged, and they’re unable to provide a lease or landlord’s letter?

Some school districts maintain that they can’t enroll a child in school without the following documents to prove that the parent resides in that school district:

  1. A valid, current lease, or
  2. A notarized letter from the parent’s landlord.

That is incorrect. Schools can – and indeed must – consider a wide range of documents when making a determination about a child’s residence and their eligibility for school enrollment.

Read more

The New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C.) chapter on student residency has a section titled Proof of Eligibility (6A:22-3.4), which sets out the list of documents that they must accept from a parent or caregiver attempting to demonstrate a student’s eligibility for enrollment. Those documents include medical reports, counselor or social worker assessments, employment documents, unemployment claims, receipts, bills, cancelled checks, and insurance claims or payments.

Many of these alternate documents may be easier for your clients to produce than a lease or a letter from a landlord, especially if they are facing housing insecurity or have informal living arrangements.


Does Autism New Jersey have referrals for summer activities such as camp, swimming lessons, and recreational activities?

Yes, case managers can find referrals for several summer activities for individuals with autism in our referral database. Here are some direct links to frequently requested lists:

Read more

Case managers might also have some success by looking at the camps listed on the website of the American Camping Association (ACA). Using the ACA website, you can filter by the type of camps, cost, length of stay, or location.

Alternatively, case managers might also find recreation opportunities, camps, and swimming lessons for their clients by exploring resources at the local level. Some excellent options to keep in mind are neighborhood community centers and county- or city-specific social media groups.

Unfortunately for families searching at the last minute, summer camps may be full, and their options may be limited. If a family is seeking help finding something to help occupy their child during the summer months, case managers may also want to provide the following childcare options to their clients:

It is important note that these summer camps, recreation programs, and childcare providers are for reference purposes only. Autism New Jersey does not recommend any specific provider and cannot guarantee the quality of available services or care.


Where can I find more information about ABA therapy, especially as it relates to Medicaid and Insurance coverage?

A great place to learn more about ABA therapy is in the Understanding Autism dropdown tab at the top of your screen. In addition to our About Autism page and our Prevalence page, the tab will route you to the following resources:

Each of those pages has a wealth of information on its specific topic and has been written so that it is useful to professionals while still being accessible to parents and families.

Read more

You can learn more about ABA therapy by visiting our articles on ABA therapy:

We will soon be launching an insurance/ABA hub. In the meantime, you can view our web content on insurance and Medicaid by following these links:


Is there any recourse available for individuals with autism who have been suspended when the behavior for which they were disciplined is a symptom of their autism? If so, what can the family do?

Yes, there are laws that protect students with disabilities who are the subject of disciplinary action in school. When schools remove children from their educational placement for a disciplinary purpose, they may explicitly call it a suspension, or they may not. However, regardless of what the school calls that removal, it is, in fact, a suspension and it may trigger certain protections for children who have IEPs.

Read more

Both the IDEA and N.J.A.C. prohibit suspension of a student with a disability for more than 10 school days without conducting a manifestation determination review. Those 10 days can either be consecutive or cumulative, which is to say that a series of short-term suspensions that add up to 10 days of removal from school should trigger a manifestation determination review. As a general practice, if a school tries to get a parent to pick up their child from school because of behavioral challenges, the parent should clarify whether the school is suspending the child. If the school indicates that it is not, then the parent should leave the child in school (assuming there are no other reasons for the parent to pick up that child).

At a manifestation determination meeting, the school must examine whether the behaviors for which the school seeks suspension are a manifestation of the child’s disability. If they were, then the school must immediately conduct a functional behavior assessment, implement a behavior intervention plan, and return the child to the educational placement from which they were removed. For more information, you can refer to the following two articles:


Can Autism New Jersey help me with my Spanish-speaking clients?

Yes, Autism New Jersey’s Autism Spectrum Disorder Support Services (ASDSS) provided to Special Child Health Services (SCHS) Case Management include assistance on all your cases, including those concerning mono-language Spanish-speaking families.

Read more

While our ASDSS relationship was initiated to allow us to serve as a resource to SCHS case managers who want to learn more about special education and school services, we frequently answer questions from case managers on a variety of topics. Our compassionate and knowledgeable team members are experts on New Jersey resources and service systems, and case managers can call to learn more about early intervention, special education, state-funded services, adult services, insurance coverage, and how they intersect for families facing challenges due to language barriers or immigration status.

We also frequently receive direct referrals from SCHS case managers that encourage their Spanish-speaking clients to contact our helpline team. We can accommodate Spanish-language calls to our 800.4.AUTISM Helpline or emails to our information inbox.

Case managers can also access a variety of Spanish-language resources by using the translation widget found in the bottom left-hand corner of any page on our website or by clicking the following links:


What childcare resources are available to parents of children with autism?

You can search our database to explore childcare providers for the families on your caseload. If you wish to explore this option, the following link will take you to the full list of referrals for the child care referrals in our database. In addition, the NJ Department of Children and Families has created a searchable online database of nearly 4,000 state-licensed childcare centers.

Read more

The following links may also be helpful:

It’s important note that these childcare providers are for reference purposes only. Autism New Jersey does not recommend any specific provider and cannot guarantee the quality of available care.

Parents and caregivers may also want to have a copy of our Respite Guide handy when speaking with childcare providers. We have outlined a few sections that may help serve as talking points when having this delicate conversation with potential childcare providers. Clicking that link will start an automatic download of a PDF copy of Individualized Respite Care Guide: A Resource for Families and Professionals


What students are eligible for special education bussing?

Transportation is a related service that is written into an IEP to enable the student to access their special education services. If the student’s behavior would stop them from riding the bus without intervention, it is impeding their education, the student is probably eligible for transportation as a related service, and the IEP should address it. When working with the families on your caseload, you can share the following sections of the New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C.) with them to help them as they advocate within their child’s school:

Read more

N.J.A.C. 6A:27-5 states, “Students with disabilities who have been determined to be eligible for special education and related services pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.5 or 3.6 shall be provided with transportation in accordance with N.J.S.A. 18A:39-1 et seq., and with their individualized education program (IEP).

  1. The district board of education shall provide transportation as required in the IEP. Such services may include, but are not limited to, special transportation equipment, transportation aides, and special arrangements for other assistance to and from school.”

N.J.A.C. 6A:27 also states under the section titled Students who shall be transported, “District boards of education shall provide transportation to public school students who reside remote from their assigned school of attendance, nonpublic school students who reside remote from their school of attendance and meet the eligibility criteria of N.J.A.C. 2 6A:27-2.2, and students with disabilities who reside remote from their assigned school or who require transportation services in accordance with their individualized education program (IEP).”


Is split-application Medicaid available to any of my clients with two children, one of whom has autism and one of whom is neurotypical?

Not necessarily. Split-application Medicaid only allows families to deem their income – not their assets – to the non-disabled child.

Read more

Split-application Medicaid, also known as Medicaid coverage obtained through a “companion case,” is a form of NJ FamilyCare coverage that is available in limited circumstances to some families who exceed the NJ FamilyCare income thresholds. You can learn more about how split-application Medicaid works by reading this article on our website.

Unfortunately, while split-application Medicaid allows families to deem their income to their neurotypical child in order to secure NJ FamilyCare coverage for their autistic child, they may still be found ineligible if their assets exceed a certain level. The asset limit for the NJ FamilyCare Aged, Blind, and Disabled program was set at $4,000 for 2024.

Families struggling with medical bills and copays for autism treatment may still be able to get help by contacting the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund (CICRF) or by adding a child only health plan to their existing coverage.


Does Autism New Jersey recommend any specific homeschooling curriculum for parents that homeschool their autistic children?

No. However, there families that choose to homeschool their children with autism may be able to use certain assessments to support and inform the homeschooling curriculum that they administer to their child.

Read more

Parents can use these assessments to figure out their child’s strengths and their area of greatest need. They can then use the results of the assessments to structure their homeschooling program to address those needs.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of assessments that can be used for this purpose:

The family can either try to administer the assessment themselves or work with a treatment provider to carry it out in a more formal setting. A word of caution, though, is that this can be a lot of work for the family. Building a homeschool curriculum is hard and carrying it out properly can brings its own challenges.



Services are funded in part by Special Child Health Services of the New Jersey Department of Health.