Policy Corner: January 21, 2022

ACL Plans Virtual TBI Stakeholder Day

In observance of Brain Injury Awareness Month, the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) is hosting a virtual Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Stakeholder Day March 8, 2022, from 12 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET. Each year, TBI Stakeholder Day brings all stakeholders together to discuss important issues around TBI services, supports, and systems, and to learn from other stakeholders, brain injury survivors, family members, support networks, and state and federal representatives.

This year’s sessions will feature Survivor Engagement Strategies, Domestic Violence and the Effect on Children, Effective Partnerships with Behavioral Health with a Focus on Suicide, and Effective Strategies for Using and Leveraging Data. Issues of equity and intersectionality will be woven into each session. Additionally, participants will also hear from leaders at ACL, and other federal partners engaged in efforts to promote and educate communities on the challenges surrounding this field and the promising practices and initiatives occurring at the national level. ACL is in the process of finalizing the agenda. Click here to register.

Sessions will be live-captioned and ASL-interpreted. If you require additional accommodations to participate or if you have any questions about the sessions, please contact tbitarc@hsri.org.

SSA Increases SSI and Social Security Benefits

Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments will increase by 5.9% starting this month due to cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The Social Security Administration (SSA) bases the COLA on changes in the Consumer Price Index. More than 70 million Americans will see a change in their benefit payments. For SSI recipients, Social Security’s primary disability benefits program for low-income people, monthly benefits will go from $794 to $841 for individuals, or from $1,191 to $1,261 for couples. This increase is the biggest year-on-year COLA since 1982, only coming close in 2009 with an adjustment of 5.8%.

ACL to Award Funding to Aging and Disability Grantees to Expand the Public Health Workforce

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) announced that it will award $150 million to expand aging and disability networks’ public health workforces through existing disability and aging grantees, including Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) State Partnership Program grantees. The ACL began distributing funding last week and half of the total funding will be awarded over the next two weeks, with the remainder of the funding to be awarded on a rolling basis over the coming months.

The aging and disability networks play a role in promoting and protecting the health of people with disabilities, including persons living with a TBI, and aging and the communities where they live, learn, work, and play. The networks play essential roles, particularly during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The funding, which will be available until Sept. 30, 2024, is intended to help cover the costs of staff to conduct these and other crucial public health activities, and to alleviate some of the strain networks have experienced during the pandemic. Funding can be used to cover wages and benefits, as well as the costs of associated equipment, training, and supplies for public health professionals. Funding will be awarded to 11 grantees as follows:

• Centers for Independent Living – $38.3 million*
• Independent Living Designated State Entities – $4.5 million* 
• No Wrong Door Systems/Aging and Disability Resource Centers – $4.4 million* 
• Protection & Advocacy Systems – $6.4 million* 
• State Assistive Technology Programs – $4.5 million* 
• State Councils on Developmental Disabilities – $4.5 million* 
• State Health Insurance Assistance Programs – $4.3 million* 
• State Units on Aging/Area Agencies on Aging – $49.8 million* 
• Traumatic Brain Injury State Partnership Programs – $2.2 million* 
• Tribes and Tribal Organizations – $22.6 million* 
• University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities – $7.6 million* 

*approximate – rounded to the nearest thousand

Funding for the aging network began last week with grants awarded to State Units on aging. State Assistive Technology Programs and tribes received their funding this week. The remaining networks and grantees will receive individual notices to apply for the funding by the end of the next week.

BIAA gratefully acknowledges the Centre for Neuro Skills and Avanir Pharmaceuticals for their support for legislative action. Click here to read past issues of Policy Corner.