RD123 - 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: $750,000 for FY ’05 and $1,000,000 for FY ’06, including $75,000 each year from the Governor’s budget for the expansion of services in Southwest Virginia. 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. DRS worked with Legislative Services and representatives of brain injury advocacy groups and programs to assure equitable distribution of funds among those programs deemed at highest risk of “closing their doors” due to the end of short-term grant funding. The programs included Brain Injury Association of Virginia; Brain Injury Services, Inc.; Brain Injury Services of Southwest Virginia; Community Futures Foundation; Commonwealth Support Systems; and Virginia NeuroCare.

DRS anticipated slow start-up costs for the newly funded FY ’05 programs and to maximize use of all funds, the agency used $25,000 of the appropriation to help support two critical statewide brain injury projects. During the summer of 2005, DRS conducted Town Meetings statewide to begin the process of updating Virginia’s 2000 Traumatic Brain Injury Action Plan. The development of the statewide Brain Injury Action Plan in Virginia for 2006-2010 will continue this as an activity under a three-year federal TBI Act Grant awarded to DRS effective April 1, 2006 ($100,000 annually in federal funds). DRS also used a portion of funds to develop a Brain Injury Services (BIS) Programs SCORECARD reporting system for monitoring state-funded programs on an ongoing basis, using a consistent measurement system across programs. The SCORECARD system is being field tested this summer and is expected to be fully operational by January 2007. DRS’ one-time use of the FY ’05 state funds has resulted in significant progress in two areas critical to the development and quality assurance of Virginia’s state-funded service delivery system for people with brain injury.

The chart below shows the distribution of pre-existing and new funding from the 2004 General Assembly appropriation for brain injury programs for State Fiscal Year 2005-06 (July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006 ):

[Chart can be viewed in full report.]