UF Wins $2.3 Million Federal Autism Training Grant

The five-year award funds neurodevelopmental disabilities training at the University of Florida as part of a national program with sites in every state.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Autism

UF Wins $2.3 Million Federal Autism Training Grant

Live Poll

Should Florida spend more on training specialists for children with developmental disabilities?

The University of Florida was selected for a $2.3 million five-year federal grant for neurodevelopmental disabilities training. The award funds UF's site in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Related Disabilities (LEND) program, one of 60 such sites nationwide.

Why it matters

The grant is intended to allow UF to train more providers, including those able to perform diagnostic assessments, which could expand access to autism care in Florida. Because LEND sites operate in every state, the award adds to a national workforce pipeline authorized under the federal Autism CARES Act of 2006.

The LEND program includes 60 sites, one in every state, funded under the Autism CARES Act of 2006 and administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The award is $2.3 million over five years, and the source does not state how many trainees the grant will support.

The players

Carol Mathews, M.D.

Chair of the University of Florida College of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry, director of UF's Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment, and program director of UF's LEND site.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The federal department that administers the LEND sites funded under the Autism CARES Act of 2006.

The details

UF's LEND site is a collaboration among the departments of psychiatry, psychology, pediatrics, health outcomes and biomedical informatics, and the UF College of Dentistry, led by program director Carol Mathews, M.D. The program directs workforce grants toward leadership training for counselors, technicians, psychologists, physicians and educators, starting with undergraduates and continuing through fellowship, and includes people with autism and family members as advisers.

November 2026: UF is selected for the LEND federal grant.
2006: The Autism CARES Act is enacted, funding LEND sites.
Over five years: The UF LEND grant period runs.

Health Landscape

The award continues the LEND network that the federal Autism CARES Act of 2006 created to address autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities. UF's selection places Florida within a program that now operates in every state, with 60 sites nationwide.

The program is intended to allow UF to train more providers and increase the number of clinicians able to perform diagnostic assessments. Families seeking autism evaluation in North Central Florida may see more trained providers over the five-year grant period.

The takeaway

Expanding the number of clinicians trained to perform diagnostic assessments is one way the federal LEND program aims to shorten the path to autism evaluation for families. Readers seeking services can ask providers whether they participate in workforce training networks like LEND.