Function

• The act is one of several pieces of legislation that amended the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Health Centers Construction Act of 1963. One purpose of the 1970 act was to include epilepsy and cerebral palsy in the classification of diseases that count as "developmental disabilities."
  
  

Features

• In addition to defining new developmental disabilities, the act also requires currently existing state and federal facilities to upgrade their infrastructure to support for the care of said individuals. The act allocates federal funds to pay for the renovations.
  
  

History

• In addition to being an amendment itself, this act has had several amendments since its inception. One of the most important amendments was an act in 1975 that introduced the rights of the developmental disabled.