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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) State Partnership Grant Program

What is a TBI?

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can happen when an external force causes severe damage to the brain. Common causes of TBI include falls, automobile accidents, and sports injuries. There are many different names for TBI such as concussion, Shaken Baby Syndrome, head injury, or anoxia (loss of oxygen) due to trauma. Data from NIDILRR-supported research finds 1.56 million TBIs are sustained in one year. 

TBI can affect many parts of a person's life. People living with TBI and their families often require a range of services and supports. Individual needs are different and can change over time, so it is important that systems provide person-centered services and supports.

TBI Technical Assistance and Resource Center (TBI TARC)

ACL’s TBI Technical Assistance and Resource Center helps TBI State Partnership Program grantees promote access to integrated, coordinated services and supports for people who have sustained a TBI, their families, and their caregivers. The Center also provides a variety of resources to non-grantee states, people affected by brain injury, policymakers, and providers.

TBI TARC is committed to integrating the voice of people with lived experience of TBI into its products, resources, and technical assistance approach. The Center’s activities are overseen and guided by people with lived experience and other subject matter experts.

Have a question about TBI or ACL’s TBI Programs? The TBI TARC team is here to help. Send your inquiry or request to tbitarc@hsri.org to receive help.

Other Resources:

  • Strong Infrastructure Components for Brain Injury (BI): State Self-Assessment Tool
    Building a strong state infrastructure takes time, effort, and planning from many individuals and organizations. There are several key components necessary to create a comprehensive state system of services, partners, funding, and policy. Infrastructure building is a process and requires routine assessment, regardless of the level achieved. This tool, Strong Infrastructure Components for Brain Injury (BI): State Self-Assessment Tool, produced by ACL's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center (TARC) was created to assist BI partners and collaborators in determining which level best describes their state’s progress, and to give some guidance to what a more comprehensive system could include. It is designed to be a guide, and states should consider re-assessing routinely, or at various points to assist in state planning efforts, such as conducting a new needs assessment, developing, or updating a state plan, or applying for a grant opportunity.
  • Modifying Psychopharmacologic Interventions for Traumatic Brain Injury
    This brief, Modifying Psychopharmacologic Interventions for Traumatic Brain Injury, produced by ACL's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center (TARC) provides clinicians with information and an array of accessible approaches for modifying psychopharmacologic interventions for TBI. This brief is also geared towards assisting brain injury personnel partner better with their behavioral health providers on best practices for TBI related interventions. Content for this brief was drawn from Section VI. Psychopharmacologic Interventions for TBI, of the Administration for Community Living 2022 Behavioral Health Guide: Considerations for Best Practices for Children, Youth, and Adults with TBI. The section was written by Michael Chiou, MD, and Lindsey Gurin, MD, NYU Langone Health.
  • Brief on Modifying Clinical Interventions for TBI
    This brief of the ACL's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center’s (TARC) Modifying Clinical Interventions for TBI highlights considerations and best practices for the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders in people with TBI. The brief also includes challenges related to brain injury and provides recommendations and strategies for clinical intervention. Content for the brief was drawn from “Section V. Modifying Clinical Interventions for TBI”, of the ACL Behavioral Health Guide: Considerations for Best Practices for Children, Youth, and Adults with TBI (acl.gov), released in 2022. The section was written by Theo Tsaousides, PhD, ABPP, clinical assistant professor, and Maria Kajankova, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
  • Behavioral Health Guide: Considerations for Best Practices for Children, Youth, and Adults with TBI
    ACL's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center’s (TARC) Behavioral Health Guide: Considerations for Best Practices for Children, Youth, and Adults with TBI was designed to provide state brain injury professionals with the tools to effectively partner with their state behavioral health entities and improve outcomes for this population.
  • Engagement Strategies for Survivors
    This guide is a resource for individuals with brain injury to be fully participating board members. It was developed by the TBI Advisory and Leadership (TAL) group to serve as a companion document to the Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board Toolkit.
  • Building Up TBI Systems: Tools for Successful TBI State Programs
    Since 1997, grantees have worked to increase access to brain injury services and to bolster the systems that advocate on behalf of people seeking services. The considerations and strategies laid out here are based on these grantees’ experiences. Broken out by program stage, they are useful for states at all levels of program and system development—from those that are just beginning to develop infrastructure to those with developed infrastructure in place.
  • Brain Injury and COVID-19: Tips for Successful Navigation
    The introduction of COVID-19 to the human population around December 2019 has resulted in a pandemic that continues to affect the entire world. Little attention has been placed on the effects of the fallout caused by COVID-19 on individuals who are living with brain injury. Highlighted in this document are the effects of COVID-19 on five members of the TBI TARC’s TBI Advisory and Leadership (TAL) group and strategies for coping that have worked for them.  
  • Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center: Traumatic Brain Injury (funded by NIDILRR)
  • National Data and Statistical Center for TBI

Webinars:

February 29, 2024: TBI Partners Day 

Thursday, February 29, 2024 | 12:00-4:00 PM ET 

Register for the event.

In observance of Brain Injury Awareness Month, please join ACL for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Partners Day.

Each year, ACL brings partners and interested parties together to discuss important issues around TBI services, supports, and systems and to learn from other partners, brain injury survivors, family members, support networks, and state and federal representatives.

This year’s program will include sessions on brain injury in the criminal legal system, aging with brain injury, and bridging coexisting intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and brain injury with mental health systems.

ASL interpretation and live captions in English and Spanish will be provided during the webinar. If you require additional accommodations to participate, or if you have any questions about the webinar, please do not hesitate to contact the TBI Technical Assistance and Resource Center (TARC) at tbitarc@hsri.org. There is no cost to register for the event.

If you would like to receive a certificate of attendance, we recommend you connect to this webinar using the Zoom desktop app. TBI TARC webinars are not officially approved for continuing education units. However, we do provide confirmation of attendance in case an organization wishes to use participation in our webinars to grant credit for internal requirements. Connecting via the desktop app will ensure that Zoom recognizes your attendance.

September 28, 2023: Incorporating Trauma Informed Best Practices into Brain Injury Screening

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center’s (TARC) held a webinar on the need for a trauma informed approach and best practice principles for implementing trauma informed screening for brain injury. A trauma informed guide to screening was reviewed and an example of how to implement trauma informed screening was provided using a trauma informed approach with implementing a modified Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method.

The webinar was live-captioned and ASL-interpreted. If you have any questions about the webinar, please contact the TBI TARC at tbitarc@hsri.org.

Webinar recording (captioned)

Webinar slides

Webinar handout

May 31, 2023: Brain Injury and Child Welfare--An Introduction to the Best Practice Guide

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center’s (TARC) held a webinar on the intersection of the child welfare system and how brain injury state systems can collaborate to meet the needs of family and children involved with that system. Guide contributors from ACL’s State Partnership Program Child Welfare Workgroup shared elements from the Brain Injury and Child Welfare Best Practice Guide: Information and Tools for State Agencies and discussed a variety of resources and tools to positively impact state welfare systems.

The webinar was live-captioned and ASL-interpreted. If you have any questions about the webinar, please do not hesitate to contact the TBI TARC at tbitarc@hsri.org.

Webinar recording (captioned)

Webinar slides 

2023 ACL Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Partners Day

In observance of Brain Injury Awareness Month 2023, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) hosted a virtual TBI Partners Day on February 28, 2023 from 12:00 to 4:00 pm ET. The event included opening remarks from Jill Jacobs, Commissioner of ACL’s Administration on Disabilities. 

Four sessions were held, the first was on aging and included presentations from Edwin Walker, JD, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging at ACL and John D. Corrigan, PhD, the Director of the Ohio Brain Injury Program, one of ACL’s funded TBI State Partnership Program (SPP) grantee.

The second session was on employment and highlighted were resources from the ACL Administration on Disabilities funded Disability and Employment Technical Assistance Center (DETAC) and included presentations from Amy Gonzalez, MS, Project Manager at DETAC, Eileen Kelly, TBI Program Manager of the Minnesota Department of Human Services (another ACL funded TBI SPP grantee), and Jill Ferrington, CRC, CBIS, Technical Assistance Advisor at the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators.

The third session was on peer support and include presentations from three members of the TBI Technical Assistance and Resource Center, TBI Advisory and Leadership Group (TAL-Group): Clifford Hymowitz, Carole Starr, and Maria Martinez.

The final session was on the intersectionality of TBI and other medical and social issues and included presentations from Shawn Callaway, Project Officer at ACL and two TAL-Group members, Eric Washington and Martin Kerrigan.

Webinar recording (captioned)

Webinar slides

August 10, 2022: Getting and Staying Involved in the Brain Injury Community

This Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center’s (TARC) webinar focused on how brain injury survivors can become involved and stay actively engaged in community, state and national brain injury initiatives. TBI survivors discussed how survivors can collaborate on all aspects of board and committee development, management, and engagement, as well as effective advocacy. The audience for the webinar are survivors that are currently engaged in brain injury initiatives, those who would like to be engaged, brain injury program staff, community brain injury providers, and other stakeholders. The presenters were staff of the TBI TARC and members of the TBI Advisory and Leadership Group (TAL-Group).  

The webinar was live-captioned and ASL-interpreted. If you have any questions about the webinar, please do not hesitate to contact the TBI TARC at tbitarc@hsri.org.

Presenters:

  • Maria Crowley, TBI TARC Technical Assistance Lead
  • Judy Dettmer, TBI TARC Technical Assistance Lead
  • Carole Starr, TBI Survivor, Speaker, Author, Advocate, and TAL-Group member
  • Cheryl Kempf, Brain Trauma and PTSD Survivor, Advocate, Speaker, and TAL-Group member
  • Clifford Hymowitz, Brain Injury Survivor, Mental Health Peer Specialist, and TAL-Group member
  • Kelly Lang, Survivor, Caregiver, Former Board Member, and TAL-Group member

Webinar recording (captioned)

Webinar slides

June 22, 2022: Introductory Webinar to the Behavioral Health Guide: Considerations for Best Practices for Children, Youth, and Adults with TBI

Introduced during the webinar was the Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center’s (TARC) Behavioral Health Guide designed to provide state brain injury professionals with the tools to effectively partner with their state behavioral health entities and improve outcomes for this population. The guide’s authors provided an overview of the various sections and answered questions about applying some of the tools and strategies identified within a state system. The guide is available for downloading at Behavioral Health Guide.

The webinar was live-captioned and ASL-interpreted. If you have any questions about the webinar, please do not hesitate to contact the TBI TARC at tbitarc@hsri.org.

BH Guide Sections and Presenters:

Section 1: Purpose of the Guide and Overview of Behavioral Health and TBI, Judy Dettmer, BSW, TBI TARC and the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA)

Section 2: Partners and Strategies, Thomasine Heitkamp, LCSW, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of North Dakota

Section 3: Training Approaches, Maria Crowley, MA, CRC, TBI TARC and NASHIA

Section 4: Screening for Lifetime History of TBI, John D. Corrigan, PhD; ABPP; Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; and Director, Ohio Valley Center for Brain Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation, the Ohio State University

Section 5: Modifying Clinical Interventions for TBI, Theo Tsaousides, PhD, ABPP, Clinical Assistant Professor, and Maria Kajankova, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Section 6: Modifying Psychopharmacologic Interventions for TBI,  Lindsey Gurin, MD and Michael Chiou, MD,  NYU Langone Health

Webinar recording (captioned)

Webinar slides

Webinar Spanish transcript

2022 TBI Stakeholder Day

View the summary, download materials, and watch the video replay.

2021 TBI Tuesdays Webinar Series

In observance of Brain Injury Awareness Month 2021 and in lieu of the Administration for Community Living’s annual in-person Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Stakeholder Day, we hosted virtual TBI Tuesdays (1:00 - 4 pm ET) during the months of March and April. See this webpage for webinar replays and materials.

December 18, 2020: Telehealth During a Pandemic: Maintaining Accessible Services

Webinar details and materials.

About the TBI State Partnership Grant Program

The TBI State Partnership Grant Program provides funding to help states increase access to services and supports for individuals with TBI throughout the lifetime. This grant program is one component of the federal TBI Program, along with Protection & Advocacy, which is expected to:

  • Help states expand and improve state and local capability so individuals with TBI and their families have better access to comprehensive and coordinated services.
  • Generate support from local and private sources for sustainability of funded projects after federal support terminates. This is done through state legislative, regulatory, or policy changes that promote the integration of TBI-related services into state service delivery systems.
  • Encourage systems change activities so that individual states can 1) evaluate their current structures and policies and 2) improve their systems as needed to better meet the needs of individuals with TBI and their families.

Grants to States

Federal TBI Program grants to states have undergone several changes since the TBI Act of 1996 mandated the program. The most recent state grants were awarded in 2014 and require that grant activities increase access to rehabilitation and other services. Specifically, the states must address four barriers to needed services by:

  • Screening to identify individuals with TBI
  • Building a trained TBI workforce by providing professional training
  • Providing information about TBI to families and referrals to appropriate service providers
  • Facilitating access to needed services through resource facilitation

State Partnership Grants (SPGs) cannot be used to support primary injury prevention initiatives, research initiatives, or the provision of direct services. Funds may be used, however, to educate the public about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of TBI.

Between 1997 and 2018, 48 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia received at least one state agency grant. For the current funding cycle (FY 2018-2021), 24 states receive funding for State Partnership Program grants. See "Current Grantees" below. A new funding cycle (FY2021-FY2026 for up to 28 states is anticipated to start on July 1, 2021.

Current Grantees (updated December 2023)

State

Organization

Current Contact(s)

AK

 

 

University of Alaska Anchorage

 

 

Sondra LeClair

sleclai1@alaska.edu

 

Lucy Cordwell

lkcordwell@alaska.edu

 

AL

 

 

Alabama Department of Rehabilitation

 

 

April Turner

april.turner@rehab.alabama.gov

 

David White

David.white@rehab.alabama.gov

 

AR

 

IDHI Brain Injury Program at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences 

 

Danny Bercher

 BercherDaniell@uams.edu

CA

 

 

California State Department of Rehabilitation

 

 

Regina Cademarti

regina.cademarti@dor.ca.gov

 

Tanya Thee

Tanya.Thee@dor.ca.gov 

 

CO

 

Colorado Department of Human Services

Kelly Miller

kelly.miller@state.co.us

 

FL

University of Florida

Michael Jaffee

michael.jaffee@ufl.edu

 

Jose Abisambra

j.abisambra@ufl.edu

Denny Armington 

DArmington@BrainInjuryFL.org 

 

Drew A. Nagele 

DNagele@BrainInjuryFL.org 

 

GA

 

 

Georgia Department of Public Health

 

Kenisha Tait

kenisha.tait@dph.ga.gov

IA

 

 

Iowa Department of Public Health

 

 

James Pender

james.pender@idph.iowa.gov

Maggie Ferguson

Maggie.Ferguson@idph.iowa.gov

 

ID

 

Idaho State University, Institute of Rural Health

Stefanie Shadduck

stefanieshadduck@isu.edu   

 

IN

 

 

Indiana Department of Health

 

Brian Busching

bbusching@health.in.gov

Wendy Waldman

wenwaldm@iu.edu

KS

 

 

Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services

 

Susan Segelquist

susan.segelquist2@ks.gov

 

KY

 

 

Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services

 

Donald Scott Collins

donald.collins@ky.gov 

MA

 

 

Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission

 

Amanda Tower 

Amanda.Tower@mass.gov

 

MD

 

 

Maryland Department of Health, Behavioral Health Administration

 

 

Stefani O'Dea

stefani.odea@maryland.gov

Anastasia Edmonston

anastasia.edmonston@maryland.gov

ME

 

Maine Department of Health and Human Services

 

 

Derek Fales

derek.fales@maine.gov

 

Sarah Jordan

sjordan@biausa.org

 

MN

 

 

Minnesota Department of Human Services

 

Eileen Kelly

eileen.kelly@state.mn.us

 

 

MO

 

 

Missouri Department of Health 

Amy Moffett

  Amy.Moffett@health.mo.gov

 

NC

 

 

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health

 

Scott Pokorny

Scott.Pokorny@dhhs.nc.gov

 

ND

 

North Dakota Department of Human Services

 

Rebecca Quinn

rebecca.quinn@und.edu

NE

 

 

Nebraska Department of Vocational Rehabilitation

 

 

Keri Bennett

keri.bennett@nebraska.gov

 

Tresa Christensen

tresa.christensen@nebraska.gov

 

NJ

 

 

New Jersey, Department of Human Services 

 

 Dr. Margaret Lumia

Margaret.lumia@dhs.nj.gov

OH

 

 

Ohio Valley Center for Brain Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation, Ohio State University

Brei Miller

Brei.Miller@osumc.edu

 

OR

 

 

University of Oregon, Center for Brain Injury Research and Training

 

Megan Jones

jonesm@cbirt.org

 

Doug Gomez

dgomez4@uoregon.edu

 

PA

 

 

Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Family Health, Division of Community Systems Development and Outreach

 

Nikki Adams

nicadams@pa.gov

Erika Pae

epae@pa.gov

 

RI

 

 

Rhode Island Department of Health

 

 

Jolayemi Ahamiojie

Jolayemi.Ahamiojie@health.ri.gov

 

Carmen Boucher

Carmen.Boucher@health.ri.gov

 

SC

South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs 

Melissa Ritter

mritter@ddsn.sc.gov 

 

TN

 

Tennessee Department of Health

 

Ashley Bridgman

Ashley.n.bridgman@tn.gov

 

UT

 

 

Utah Department of Health, Violence, and Injury Prevention Program

 

Traci Barney

tabarney@utah.gov

 

Daniel Musto

danielmusto@utah.gov

 

VA

 

Virginia Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services

 

Donna Cantrell

donna.cantrell@DARS.virginia.gov 

 

Chris Miller

christiane.miller@dars.virginia.gov

 

WI

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Jerry Hoepner

hoepnejk@uwec.edu

 

Audrey Nelson

nelsoau@uwec.edu 

 

WV

 

West Virginia University, Center for Excellence in Disabilities 

 

Amanda Acord-Vira

amanda.acordvira1@hsc.wvu.edu 

 

 


Last modified on 02/12/2024


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