New National Center to Support Timely, Coordinated Services for Brain Injury

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) announced the launch of the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center. The Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) will administer the new center along with its partners from the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA) and a group of subject matter experts, including people with lived experience of TBI.

The aim of the center is to help states promote access to integrated, coordinated services and supports for people who have sustained a TBI, their families, and caregivers. These services and supports will encourage both community inclusion and the personal independence of people with TBI.

In addition to providing program support to ACL and technical assistance to ACL’s TBI State Partnership program grantees, the Center will also develop and compile resources that will be publicly available.

“Timely access to proper interventions and community services can often lessen the impact of TBI on people’s lives. But TBI has a very complex nature that can make this a challenge. States often serve individuals living with brain injury through multiple programs—Medicaid, vocational rehabilitation, employment, education, mental health, substance abuse, long-term care, and more,”  said Rebeccah Wolfkiel, executive director of NASHIA. Coordination between state programs is essential and the HSRI/NASHIA team has experience helping states to leverage existing resources.

 “By pooling our collective knowledge of TBI and person-centered planning and implementation, the goal is to help states develop strong and sophisticated state TBI infrastructures that provide timely access to services and empower people to live the lives that are meaningful to them,” said Teresita Camacho-Gonsalves, a senior research associate at HSRI and project director for the new center.

Interstate collaboration is a hallmark of the ACL’s TBI State Partnership Program. Under the current funding cycle, ACL is funding 27 grantees through the program with some states funded as “Mentor States.” The new TBI Technical Assistance and Resource Center will assist these collaborations and enhance the efforts to maximize the program’s impact nationally.

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