Traumatic Brain Injury Services
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have any number of causes such as an accident, seizure, stroke, surgery, or tumor and can result in, among other things, memory loss, physical deficits, and intellectual and emotional changes that can affect the individual and all who love him or her. No two brain injuries have the same symptoms, the same intensity, or the same short- and long-term effects.
In New York State, when a resident incurs a brain injury, a traumatic brain injury (TBI), he or she probably was hospitalized, received rehabilitative services and is now ready for discharge. It is time to make some decisions.
Whether the person is returning to a home with family, living with friends or going back to a home where they lived alone, there is help available to make that move successful and long-term supports to help them live safely and productively.
Catholic Charities Community Services, through its Traumatic Brain Injury Services, offers individuals with a TBI an opportunity to develop a plan for living safely in the community with support services in place to help achieve goals they have set for themselves. The services are offered under the New York State Department of Health Home and Community Based Medicaid Waiver for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (often referred to as the HCBS/TBI Waiver). The program was developed to provide the services necessary to allow people with TBI to live independently in the community, thereby lowering the number of admissions to care facilities.
Catholic Charities Community Services was one of the first providers of TBI services under the HCBS/TBI Waiver in the Rochester area, beginning in 1997. The program's director, Tracy C. McNett, has been a constant and consistent presence in the TBI community since the program began. This well-established program has received recognition on the state and local levels for its best practices in staff training and service delivery.
The service is also unique among providers in the area because it has a separate staff and program dedicated solely to the support of persons living with TBI and their families; it was uniquely designed as a human service program to specifically assist persons with TBI. The program uses specialized trainings and skills development to work with this complex disability.
QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ASKED YOURSELF
When should we start looking at these services? When you, your family member or friend is diagnosed with a TBI!! It is always helpful to be informed, to know what kind of short-term and long-term supports are available in the community so that you are aware the opportunities. You may want to start looking and asking questions when the person is ready to be discharged from the hospital; it may be during rehabilitation programs; it may be after the person has returned home or seems unable to return home and a nursing home placement is imminent. It might even be when he or she is already in a nursing home. any time when the individual, the family or friend sees a need or a desire to re-learn living or social skills to become more independent.
Who is eligible for TBI Waiver Services? Persons eligible for services under the TBI Waiver
- have a diagnosed traumatic brain injury (regardless of age of onset),
- are between the ages of 18 and 64,
- are eligible to receive Medicaid.
Where do I go for more information?
Contact: Tracy McNett, TBI Services Director or the contact listed with each specific service below.
SERVICES
Service Coordination
Catholic Charities Community Services provides long term supports for persons living with a TBI, beginning with service coordination. Service coordinators are the primary staff members in providing and accessing inclusive supports.
The provider agency and the individual service coordinator are designated by the choice of the individual with the brain injury. With the assistance of the service coordinator, the individual and family members gather the information needed for the applicant to be approved as a TBI Waiver participant. Throughout the process of applying for approval for services, the service coordinator will engage the individual and family members in conversations which provide him or her with insight into the goals the person has set for him/herself.
With eligibility and approval in place, the individual and the service coordinator develop a service plan with services in place to help achieve those life goals. If necessary, the service coordinator will assist in securing a residence in the community that meets the individual's personal safety needs. If needed, the service coordinator can also provide linkages to community resources.
Periodically, the service coordinator will review the service plan, assess progress toward the stated goals and guide the individual and his/her loved ones on a path to the individual's independence with dignity.
Contact: Karen Rowland, Service Coordination Intake
Independent Living Skills Training
When eligibility is secured, TBI Services can assist with re-training in living skills, assessing, instructing and supervision in activities of daily living. Special training required of staff equips them with the knowledge to provide appropriate techniques for clients in regaining these skills while maintaining the individual's dignity.
Contact: Kelly Finnigan, MSW
Community Integration Counseling
A traumatic brain injury can affect the way a person sees the world and the way the world sees the person. Often this realization is disheartening to the TBI survivor, family and friends.
To address this challenge, Catholic Charities Community Services can provide counseling for the individual and the family as they confront this re-entry into the community.
Contact: Kelly Finnigan, MSW
Transportation Services
Catholic Charities Community Services has the unique opportunity to provide transportation to persons with a TBI with transportation to appointments and scheduled events that relate to community skills development. The purpose of this service is to ease re-entry by providing the opportunity to overcome a huge barrier to living independently in the community: lack of transportation.
Contact: Tracy McNett, Director
Other Special Services Are Accessible
The service coordinator can also access service available through state funding sources and other agencies which include rental and utility assistance, intensive behavioral programming, home and community support services, environmental modifications and assistive technology, day programs, support groups and respite care.
Funding
Catholic Charities Community Services' Traumatic Brain Injury Services is funded through the NYS Department of Health Home and Community Based Service Medicaid Waiver for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury, by restricted private funds and through general donations to the agency.
