Rutgers University broke ground Monday on a $9.5 million facility to expand services to a growing community of adults with autism who have aged out of school-funded programs.

The new facility for the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services will be built at the former location of the Corwin Dormitories on Nichol Avenue on the Douglass campus in New Brunswick. The vacant residential buildings will be demolished to make room for the building, which will be paid for through philanthropic funds, according to a press release.

“We are committed to serving adults with autism by providing meaningful paid employment, full integration into the Rutgers community and ongoing research and training related to helping adults with autism lead full lives,” said Christopher Manente, the center’s executive director.

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The center started in 2016 to address the lack of services for adults with autism, a group that has grown in New Jersey, where the rate of autism among preschoolers tripled in a generation. Most programs that teach children with autism life skills end at age 21.

The new facility, expected to open in 2020, will have vocational and life skills teaching areas, individualized and group training rooms, a professional kitchen, recreational spaces, offices and meeting rooms with advanced computer technology.

About 12 adults on the autism spectrum currently participate in the program, where they get connected to work, vocational training and other services. The participants work five days a week at paying jobs on campus in food service, horticulture, maintenance, university mail services, document and records management, the Rutgers Cinema, computer retail services and other areas.

The center "presents a model of what adults with autism can accomplish," said Francine Conway, dean of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.

With the expanded space, the program will be able to offer services to 30 participants. The space will serve as a hub for participants, faculty, staff and students to engage in an inclusive environment.

University officials say the center provides services to foster independent living while faculty members conduct research that can inform the development of other programs for adults with autism.

“This center will have a lasting impact on the lives of adults with autism in New Jersey and across the country,” President Robert Barchi said.

Last week, the university unveiled plans for a $750 million Cancer Pavilion that will be located in New Brunswick adjacent to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey campus.

Email: carrera@northjersey.com