The Center for Autism Expands Grant Avenue Location, Prepares to Double Patient Capacity

— $1 Million Commonwealth Grant will Fund New Treatment Space and
Hiring of 65 New Employees —

PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The
Center for Autism, a nonprofit evaluation and treatment center for
people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), announces the plan and
timeline for the expansion of its Grant Avenue location. A $1 million
Economic Initiative Grant (EIG), which was awarded by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania in late 2014, is funding the development. The project
will take place in two phases, the first of which will include a
15,000-square-foot renovation to be completed in late spring 2016. This
increase in space will allow the Center to offer services at its Grant
Avenue location that are currently only available at the Ford Road
location.

“The renovations at our Grant Avenue site will allow us to meet the
increasing need for ASD services in the Philadelphia community,” said
David M. Maola, CEO of The Center for Autism. “We will continue to grow
as the need for evaluation and outpatient services increases in the
community. This expansion will have a significant impact on the breadth
of services we provide and will directly affect hundreds of ASD
individuals for years to come.”

The EIG grant will assist in funding a grand total of 18,500 square feet
of renovations to be completed by the end of 2016. As a result of the
project, The Center for Autism will serve twice as many clients through
a combination of Pre-K, First Friends, Social Competency and Saturday
programming. The Grant Avenue location will also support 240 evaluations
annually, formerly exclusively available at the Ford Road headquarters.
To sustain the growth of the Grant Avenue location, The Center for
Autism will create positions for 45 full-time and 21 part-time employees
throughout the next year.

In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the
prevalence of autism in 1 in 45 American children, an increase of more
than 300 percent since 2000. The Center for Autism has evolved to treat
the increase in ASD individuals, but as more children are diagnosed each
year, in addition to those entering adulthood, there remains a dramatic
need for services in the Greater Philadelphia Region. Many of the area’s
service providers are beyond capacity, which forces families to postpone
diagnosis and initial treatment. The expansion of The Center for
Autism’s Grant Avenue location will provide families with resources and
treatment options presently unavailable.

For 60 years, The Center for Autism has remained a trusted resource in
the Philadelphia ASD community. For more information on services at both
Center for Autism locations, visit www.thecenterforautism.org.

About The Center for Autism

The Center for Autism was founded in 1955 by renowned child psychiatrist
Bertram A. Ruttenberg, M.D., and is the oldest specialized autism center
in the nation. Operating as a nonprofit organization, the Center
provides evaluation and treatment services to over 1,500 individuals and
families each year at two Philadelphia locations. The organization also
provides consultations to professionals and organizations throughout the
Delaware Valley. For more information, please visit www.thecenterforautism.org.

Contacts

Brownstein Group
Rachel Rauth, 267-238-4144
rrauth@brownsteingroup.com
or
The
Center for Autism
Jessica Bollard, 484-567-3308
jbollard@thecenterforautism.org