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Advocacy Update: The Traumatic Brain Injury Act

Categories: Research, THE Challenge!

The TBI Act provides much-needed support for persons with brain injury. The TBI Act was passed in 1996. At the time, it was the only federal legislation that specifically addressed TBI prevention, research, and service delivery. The law provided funding for research and grants to states to create systems of care for persons with brain injury. It’s up for reauthorization in 2024.

Accomplishments of the TBI Act

  • Created and expanded TBI Surveillance program to collect information on the incidence of TBI in the United States
  • Called for and funded civilian and military/veterans’ TBI research
  • Created State Partnership Grant program to build systems of care for those with brain injury
  • Authorized the CDC to collect and analyze data regarding the national prevalence and incidence of concussions
  • Commissioned cognitive and neurobehavioral research; Authorized Protection and Advocacy grant funding

Why is it Important to Reauthorize the TBI Act?

  • IT FUNDS RESEARCH at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • IT PROVIDES GRANTS to states to build better systems of care for persons with brain injury.
  • IT SUPPORTS state protection and advocacy agencies, who are the legal watchdog for people with disabilities.
  • A National Concussion Surveillance System PILOT STUDY FOUND significant underreporting of concussion among adults and children as compared to national datasets.
  • EVIDENCE COMPREHENSIVELY DEMONSTRATES that TBI is a chronic health condition, characterized by enduring functional impairment, cognitive deficits, comorbid health conditions, and psychosocial challenges across the lifespan as a person ages with a TBI.

Grant Administration

The TBI Act grants are administered by the Administration on Community Living within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. States leverage modest federal investment with their “match” money and use this catalyst to develop local brain injury programs.

Who’s Involved with Reauthorization

  • Senate Sponsors: Senator Robert Casey (D-PA), Republican sponsor TBD
  • House Sponsors: Rep Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and Rep Don Bacon (R-Nebraska)
  • Brain Injury Association of America
  • National Association of Head Injury Administrators
  • United States Brain Injury Alliance
  • Other stakeholders are expected to support the bill.

This article originally appeared in Volume 18, Issue 1 of THE Challenge! published in 2024.