RD237 - Annual Report on the Aggregate Data on the Operations and Funding of the Commonwealth Neurotrauma Initiative Trust Fund


Executive Summary:
During this reporting period, in December of 2005, a new CNI Advisory Board chair, David B. Reid, Psy.D., “One person licensed by a health regulatory board within the Department of Health Professions with experience in brain or spinal cord injury rehabilitative programs or services” was elected for a term of one year, eligible in the Board By-Laws for reelection after a term of one-year. Coincidentally, his predecessor, Patricia Tiernan, RN finished her second term in the same Board position of “One person licensed by a health regulatory board within the Department of Health Professions with experience in brain or spinal cord injury rehabilitative programs or services” in FY’05.

The Advisory Board issued a Requests For Proposal (RFP) #06-327 on April 5, 2006 due June 5, 2006 for Option-B Community-Based Rehabilitative Services to establish contracts to develop, expand, or improve community-based rehabilitative programs / services for individuals experiencing traumatic spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries or both. The Board considered any project that identified a clearly defined community need and met the criteria of the RFP. The Board also designated priority for projects that (in no particular order): 1) established and evaluated the effectiveness of local, regional, or statewide community-based peer support networks, particularly among people with spinal cord injury; 2) increased healthy lifestyle choices among people with brain injury and/or spinal cord injury to improve independence and functionality; and 3) designed and developed specialized treatment programs/services that address substance use, abuse, and addiction among people with brain injury and/or spinal cord injury.

The Board received sixteen proposals and funded seven of them to begin the one to three-year contract periods beginning in FY’07 and ending in FY’10. Grant recipients are:

• The Brain Injury Resource & Development Center, Inc.-Roanoke, VA ($450,000/3 years)
• Brain Injury Services, Inc.-Springfield, VA ($252,970/3 years)
• Virginia Commonwealth University-Richmond, VA ($321,388/3 years)
• Virginia Commonwealth University-Richmond, VA ($426,949/3 years)
• Wintergreen Adaptive Skiing-Wintergreen, VA ($50,765/3 years)
• Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, Fishersville, VA ($124,844.75/1 year)
• Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, Fishersville, VA ($448,266/3 years)

To protect the financial viability of the program as well as to streamline the process the Advisory Board voted to issue an RFP for Option-A Research on the Mechanism and Treatment of Neurotrauma in January of FY’07.

During this reporting period, a total of seven (7) grants completed their final year of funding. Six (6) of the grants were Option-B community rehabilitation grants which were slated to end December 31, 2005. Of these six, four received no-cost extensions from one to six months in length. The seventh grant that completed their final year of funding was an Option-A research grantee (awarded under the FY’04 budget amendment granting the Commissioner of the Department of Rehabilitative Services authority to “…reallocate up to $500,000 from unexpended balances in the Commonwealth Neurotrauma Initiative Trust Fund to fund new grant awards for research on traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries,”) that completed its contract award during SFY ’06.

During this reporting period, a total of twelve (12) grantees received “no cost extensions.” Five (5) of the grantees were Option-B community rehabilitation programs which were slated to end December 31, 2005, with one of the five being granted a 12 month extension pushing its contract end date to FY’07. Five (5) grantees were Option-A research projects (from the 2nd round of research awards scheduled to end July 31, 2006). Such extensions – which are typically granted for three to twelve months - allow grantees to use their unexpended funds to continue project activities (such as analyzing data, preparing reports, and distributing results) beyond the ending date of their grant award. Two of the twelve grantees to receive “no cost extensions” were awarded under the aforementioned FY’04 budget amendment granting the Commissioner the authority to award research grants.

During this reporting period, a total of twelve (12) grantees requested carryover of grant funds from SFY 2005 to SFY 2006. Five (5) of the grantees were Option-B community rehabilitation program grant contracts that carried funds over from year two to year three and seven (7) were Option-A research projects that carried funds over from year two to three. Requests to “carry forward” unexpended funds from one grant year to the next are common due to inevitable delays or changes in hiring staff, ordering and equipping an office or laboratory, and similar challenges.

For FY’05, staff administrative costs were budgeted at $80,000; $80,622.63 was actually expended.