Press Release: Hochul’s Proposed State Budget Promising for Brain Injury Community

Hochul’s Proposed State Budget Promising for Brain Injury Community

On behalf of the brain injury community in New York State, the Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS) would like to thank Governor Hochul, the Senate, and the Assembly for allocating $300,000 toward a Continuum of Care for Resource Facilitation. Although it falls short of the $1,000,000 goal, this money will allow BIANYS to help the brain injury community that desperately needs it. BIANYS is dedicated to this cause and is hopeful to receive the full amount next year.

A special thank you goes out to Senator John Mannion and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, who championed this initiative and were an integral part of the efforts made to be included in the budget. Lastly, BIANYS is so thankful to the hundreds of individuals around the state that attended Advocacy Day, made phone calls, and sent letters to the legislature to push for funding.

With this funding, the Continuum of Care will establish a resource facilitation and care coordination program to address the needs of brain injury survivors, their families, and caregivers.  This will ensure that New Yorkers recovering from a brain injury receive the absolute best care and assistance available.  Survivors, families, and caregivers will have the information they need and will be connected to doctors, rehabilitation services and other community-based services, improving outcomes and preventing unnecessary hospitalizations and medical care.

Continue reading for a specific breakdown of how funding will be used.

Prevention and Outreach

The prevention and outreach aspect of the Continuum of Care program will focus on preventing brain injuries while connecting survivors to resources.  Specifically, it will:

  • Create a brain injury prevention public awareness campaign.
  • Provide outreach to target populations, including youth sports, older adults and adults sustaining concussions, among others.
  • Create collateral informational materials including publications on brain injury for discharge planners to distribute to patients.
  • Host webinars on fall prevention, recognizing brain injury and proper understanding of brain injury.
  • Be a hub for providers, community-based organizations, and other entities, enabling them to reach brain injury survivors and families.
  • Perform a needs assessment to gather data on brain injury incidence, severity, and financial impact in New York State, and to identify gaps in services.
  • Provide training to doctors who treat patients with brain injury.
  • Educate community-based providers with specific training on brain injury and why survivors need specialized services.
  • Host a conference for rehabilitation team members, including medical providers and discharge planners, on best practices for recognition, treatment, rehabilitation and assisting people with brain injury in accessing community-based support services.
  • Network with medical and rehabilitation facilities to reach people with brain injury.

 Support Services

The Continuum of Care program will establish a care coordination program providing support services to people with brain injury, with the goal of returning them to the least restrictive setting in their communities with all needed services in place.  It will:

  • Create a centralized location at the Brain Injury Association of New York State to guide brain injury survivors through their recovery journey.
  • Provide care managers to support survivors and their families by helping them access needed medical and rehabilitation services.
  • Provide a connection to Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS) chapters and support groups, which can be vital to ongoing recovery.
  • Keep brain injury survivors healthy and at home, with all members of the care team kept aware of and engaged in the care coordination process.
  • Help people with mild brain injury (ie, concussion) access needed rehabilitation services.

For more information, or to interview a BIANYS representative, please contact Susan Bardack at susan@buzzmediasolutions.com or 518.867.7940.

Download press release here.