health and receipt of related health services among children, adolescents, and young adults with autism/DD, with a special focus on addressing the needs of underserved populations. The Autism FIRST program objectives to be accomplished during the period of performance are to: • Generate new evidence to address the needs of underserved autistic/DD populations for whom there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of interventions, and limited access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment for autism/DD; • Conduct and disseminate findings from applied and/or translational research on critical and emerging autism/DD issues using a research design including collection of primary data among underserved populations, with a special focus on children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 26. • Inform public health efforts to improve delivery of health and related services through studies that are generalizable and replicable for underserved autism/DD populations; and • Align research with MCHB’s Strategic Research Issues and Blueprint for Change, with an emphasis on promoting health equity, family and child well-being and quality of life, and access to services; For more details, see Program Requirements and Expectations