BOZEMAN — Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who has an autistic son, helped dedicate a treatment house for severely autistic children in Gallatin County.

The Candlelight Community Living Initiative, between Bozeman and Belgrade, will house four autistic children ranging in ages from 10 to 16.

A.W.A.R.E., Inc. will run the center through a contract with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

A.W.A.R.E. CEO Larry Noonan said the house was built in response to the increase in the number of children being diagnosed with autism. He says it gives families with severely autistic children the ability to keep their children in state, even if they can’t live at home.

Noonan said the house is the first of its kind in Montana.

The house cost $300,000 and another $200,000 was spent to train 14 staffers, he said.

Schweitzer’s office helped facilitate the funding by requesting a waiver allowing Medicaid dollars to be used, Noonan said.

Schweitzer’s 21-year-old son, Ben, has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism that impairs a person’s ability to interact with others.

“He’s very intelligent, he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever known, and he’ll live with Nancy and I for the rest of our lives,” Schweitzer said Thursday.

But he said his work on the project was less influenced by his experience with his son than by what he says has been a theme of his administration.

“It comes down to our treatment of the mentally ill, reforming our corrections system, all the ways we help the last and the least in Montana,” he said.