Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) State Partnership Grant Program
For more information about the TBI State Partnership Program, visit: https://tbi.acl.gov/.
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:
- 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. - Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center: Traumatic Brain Injury (funded by NIDILRR)
- National Data and Statistical Center for TBI
Webinars:
- December 18, 2020: Telehealth During a Pandemic: Maintaining Accessible Services
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:
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Help states expand and improve state and local capability so individuals with TBI and their families have better access to comprehensive and coordinated services.
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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.
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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.
- Current Grantees
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States
Organization
Contact(s)
AK
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
Danielle Reed
Karen Heath
Lucy Cordwell
AL
Alabama Department of Rehabilitation
April Turner
april.turner@rehab.alabama.gov
Karen Coffey
AR
Arkansas Trauma Rehabilitation Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Center for Distance Health
Terri Imus
Kim Lamb
Amy Moses
CA
California State Department of Rehabilitation
Tanya Thee
Megan Sampson
CO
Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
Liz Gerdeman
Regina Rodriguez Sisneros
Karen Ferrington
GA
Georgia Department of Public Health, Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Trust Fund Commission
Craig Young
Kenisha Tait
IA
Iowa Department of Public Health
James Pender
Maggie Ferguson
ID
Idaho State University, Institute of Rural Health
Russ Spearman
IN
Indiana State Department of Health
Katherine Hokanson
Dr. Devan Parrott
Laura Trexler
Lance Trexler
Peter Bisbecos
Amy Miller
KS
Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services
Robin Abramowitz
KY
Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Sheena Batts
Donald Collins
Marnie Mountjoy
Victoria Elridge
MA
Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission
Sandy Biber
sandy.biber@massmail.state.ma.us
Gabriela Lawrence-Soto
Gabriela.Lawrence-Soto@MassMail.State.MA.US
Amanda Tower
MD
Maryland Department of Health, Behavioral Health Administration
Stefani O'Dea
Anastasia Edmonston
anastasia.edmonston@maryland.gov
ME
Maine Department of Health and Human Services
Derek Fales
Steve Wade
Sarah Jordan
Elizabeth Hardink
MN
Minnesota Department of Human Services
Eileen Kelly
Jill Tilbury
MO
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Division of Community and Public Health
Jennifer Braun
Kathy Craig
NC
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health
Scott Pokorny
Mya Lewis
Michael Brown
NE
Nebraska Department of Vocational Rehabilitation
Keri Bennett
OH
Ohio Valley Center for Brain Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation, OSU
Monica Lichi
OR
University of Oregon, Center for Brain Injury Research and Training
Laurie Powell
Megan Jones
Dave Kracke
Laura Beck
PA
Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Family Health, Division of Community Systems Development and Outreach
Julie Myers
Nikki Adams
Cynthia Dundas
RI
Rhode Island Department of Health
Jeffrey Hill
Jolayemi Ahamiojie
Jolayemi.Ahamiojie@health.ri.gov
James Rajotte
Carmen Boucher
TN
Tennessee Department of Health
Ashley Bridgman
Paula Denslow
UT
Utah Department of Health, Violence and Injury Prevention Program
Traci Barney
Deanna Ferrell
VA
Virginia Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services
Donna Cantrell
donna.cantrell@DARS.virginia.gov
Chris Miller
christiane.miller@dars.virginia.gov
VT
Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living
Sara Lane
WV
Center for Excellence in Disabilities at West Virginia University
Amanda Acord-Vira
Miranda Talkington
miranda.talkington@hsc.wvu.edu
April Fincham
Authorizing Legislation
The current authorizing legislation is the Traumatic Brain Injury Program Reauthorization Act of 2018 (P.L 115-377; (42 U.S.C. 300d–52). It raised the authorization levels for the TBI State Partnership Program and TBI P&A and officially designates ACL as the administering agency for both programs. Also, the new provision for partners at the Centers for Disease Control will allow them to implement and analyze concussion prevalence and incidence data, filling a longstanding data gap that will bolster all TBI programs.
See this page for information about the Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2018.
TBI Programs Transition to ACL
The TBI Reauthorization Act of 2014 allowed the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary to review oversight of the federal TBI Program and reconsider which administration should lead it. With support from TBI stakeholders, the Secretary found that the federal TBI Programs' goals closely align with ACL's mission to advance policy and implement programs that support the rights of older Americans and people with disabilities to live in their communities. As a result, the federal TBI Program moved from the Health Resources and Services Administration to ACL on Oct. 1, 2015.
State Grantee Information
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:
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Screening to identify individuals with TBI
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Building a trained TBI workforce by providing professional training
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Providing information about TBI to families and referrals to appropriate service providers
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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" above.
TBI Coordinating Center
In January 2019, the Administration for Community Living asked for submissions of thoughts and ideas from TBI stakeholders regarding the future contract for the TBI Technical Assistance and Resource Center. ACL received thirteen submissions with recommendations. Here are some of the common themes from these responses as well as the full text redacted for identifying information.
The TBI Coordinating Center helps demonstrate the federal TBI Program’s success in providing long-term benefits to public health and provides grantees access to resources that will help them build partnerships, promote positive outcomes, increase access, and build capacity.
The TBI Coordinating Center:
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Provides grantees with individualized technical assistance to help plan and develop effective programs that improve access to health and other services for individuals with TBI and their families
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Shares promising practices and lessons learned on implementing project activities and creating and/or incorporating TBI services, funding, etc.
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Communicates TBI-related information and research findings
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Offers best practices and tools for grantees to conduct state needs and resource assessments
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Responds to questions about the federal TBI Program and facilitates participation in program-related events
Legislation
Recognizing the large number of individuals and families struggling to access appropriate and community-based services, Congress authorized the federal TBI Program in the TBI Act of 1996 (PL 104-166). The TBI Act of 1996 launched an effort to conduct expanded studies and to establish innovative programs for TBI. The Act gave the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) authority to establish a grant program for states to assist it in addressing the needs of individuals with TBI and their families. The TBI Act also delegated responsibilities in research to the National Institutes of Health, and prevention and surveillance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-206) reauthorized the programs of the TBI Act of 1996. The 2000 Amendments (PL 106-310—Title XIII of the Children’s Health Act) recognized the importance of protection and advocacy (P&A) services for individuals with TBI and their families by authorizing HRSA to make grants to federally mandated state protection and advocacy systems. As a result of the TBI Reauthorization Act of 2014, the TBI Program transitioned from HRSA to ACL on October 1, 2015. The fiscal year 2015 appropriation was $9.321 million.