RD112 - Annual Report of the Department of Rehabilitative Services on Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Services


Executive Summary:
The 2004 General Assembly provided a biennial total of $1.9 million in additional permanent funds for SFY ’05-’06 for brain injury services. As the lead agency to coordinate services for people with physical and sensory disabilities, the Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) was designated to administer the new funds. Through the allocation of these new funds, members of the General Assembly responded to the demonstrated need to continue critical program services provided initially via Commonwealth Neurotrauma Initiative (CNI) Trust Fund grants awarded in 2002. Six (6) programs received CNI Trust Fund grants to develop an array of services for people with brain injuries in various locations across the Commonwealth. CNI grants are intended by regulation to be short-term grant awards that encourage development of innovative community based model programs for services to people with brain injury and/or spinal cord injury.

Having demonstrated the need for the CNI funded programs, there was intense concern that these successful programs would be forced to “close their doors” at the end of the maximum three-year CNI grant period. Program staff and service recipients coordinated efforts to educate their legislators about the need for ongoing funding of the services. The General Assembly responded by approving a biennial budget appropriation in the amounts of $750,000 for FY ’05 and $950,000 for FY ’06, including $75,000 each year from the Governor’s budget for the expansion of services in Southwest Virginia. Of the total allocated for FY ’05, $600,000 was targeted for those CNI funded programs whose grants were ending that year. An additional $150,000 was designated as permanent funding for a “new program” to be funded through a Request For Proposals (RFP) process administered by DRS. Community Futures Foundation, which operates The Mill House in Richmond, competed for and was awarded funding to establish Denbigh House, a vocational clubhouse program in Newport News.

DRS worked closely with Legislative Services and representatives of the six brain injury services providers to equitably distribute funds among the programs at greatest risk of “closing their doors” due to the end of CNI grant funding: Brain Injury Association of Virginia; Brain Injury Services, Inc.; Brain Injury Services of Southwest Virginia; Community Futures Foundation; Commonwealth Support Services; and Virginia NeuroCare. DRS convened a meeting prior to the July 1 effective date to review the proposed plan which included the issuance of a competitive $150,000 Request For Proposal for a “new program.” The DRS plan was approved by Legislative Services and by the Secretary’s Office, as well as by the involved programs. The final distribution of new FY ’05 - ’06 funds - and existing funding per program - is charted below: CHART CAN BE VIEWED IN FULL REPORT

Per the budget language, “programs currently receiving more than $250,000 from the general fund each year are ineligible for additional assistance under this section.” Therefore, DRS made sure that no program to be funded through the FY ’05 / FY ’06 appropriation received state general funds of $250,000 or more for the provision of the same or similar services to be funded. Further, the budget states that “up to $150,000 each year shall be awarded to successful program applicants.” The amount of the appropriation did not allow all of the programs to be funded at the $150,000 level. DRS made a best effort to bring all programs as close as possible to the $150,000 benchmark amount, based on past history of expenditures, number of people served by a program in a particular part of the state (unserved / underserved), the level of need for the service, and the general cost of doing business in that part of the state. For example, Commonwealth Support Services, Inc. (CSS) in Virginia Beach was currently receiving a total of $160,000 to operate two part-time day programs, one in Virginia Beach and one on the Eastern Shore. The additional funding through this appropriation did not bring the two programs up to the $150,000 level, but past expenditures indicated that increasing their funding to $135,000 and $120,000 respectively would allow them to move both programs to full-time status. This did not establish new services in those areas, but allowed existing programs to offer more comprehensive programs, thus providing enhanced services that otherwise do not exist in those locations.

Note that due to a slight delay in issuing the Request For Proposals (RFP) and awarding the “new program” to be funded with $150,000 in FY ’05 funds, it was projected that the Denbigh House program would likely be able to use only about $75,000 during its “start-up year.” Therefore, DRS awarded the Brain Injury Association of Virginia – the second highest rated applicant under the Request For Proposals - a one-time FY ’05 allocation of $50,000 to extend two Regional Resource Coordinator positions. The positions were established and funded through a three-year federal TBI Act grant ending in March 2005. The one-time allocation of $50,000 allowed BIAV to use the state funds “first” and request carryover of federal funds and a “no cost extension” for an additional 12-month period (approved by federal officers), thereby extending two of these important staff positions for up to 12 additional months.

DRS also used $25,000 of the FY ’05 appropriation to conduct five Town Meetings statewide as part of a process to update its 2000 Brain Injury Action Plan. Funds were also used to develop a Brain Injury Services Program SCORECARD reporting system for monitoring newly funded programs using a consistent measurement system across programs. DRS expects the web-based SCORECARD system to be fully operational within the next 9-12 months.

Appendix “A” contains information on geographic locations served; service providers; types of services provided; number of people served; and the amount of funding per program for FY ’05, FY ’06, as well as existing funding.