Information about Nina Wall-Cote

Ms. Nina Wall-Cote is the Director of the Bureau of Autism Services in the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW). She earned an M.S.S. from Bryn Mawr College’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. She is a Licensed Social Worker who has worked in private practice with families and adolescents and has specialized as a private consultant for children with serious behavioral and emotional health challenges. Ms. Wall-Cote has also trained and supervised southeastern Pennsylvanian clinicians who work with children living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and behavioral health challenges.

As an advocate, Ms. Wall-Cote was a founding member and President of the Pennsylvania Action Coalition for Autism Services (PACAS), a statewide board of autism advocacy chairs and directors representing various regions of Pennsylvania. Ms. Wall-Cote also served as a board member of Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy (PP&A), where she represented the perspective of the autism advocacy community and challenges faced by families living with autism throughout the commonwealth.

Prior to her current appointment, Ms. Wall-Cote served as one of three Managing Co-Chairs of Secretary of Public Welfare Estelle B. Richman’s Autism Task Force of Pennsylvania in May of 2003. The Autism Task Force was a statewide work group comprised of over 273 Pennsylvanians that represented the perspectives and opinions of families and individuals living and working with autism throughout the commonwealth. The main charge of the Autism Task Force was to make recommendations that focused on reforming and enhancing the human service delivery system to better serve those living and working with autism. After 18 months of work, the Autism Task Force released their findings and recommendations to the public in December of 2004.

In July 2005, Secretary Richman appointed Ms. Wall-Cote as the Executive Director of DPW’s newly created Office of Autism Affairs. In February 2007, Secretary Richman announced the creation of a new Bureau of Autism Services within the Office of Developmental Programs. In her role leading the Bureau of Autism Services, Ms. Wall-Cote is actively working with Secretary Richman, the Pennsylvania General Assembly and a team of experts to implement and integrate the recommendations of the 2004 Autism Task Force Report, while creating a parallel service delivery structure that better serves individuals and families living with autism.