NASHIA News
July 12, 2004
Greetings NASHIA Members:
Summer is here! The beach is warm, the mountains are cool, and people everywhere are celebrating this great nation's Independence. Like all of our members, NASHIA's Board of Directors and staff are hard at work.
On Thursday, July 8, 2004, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY05 Labor-HHS-Ed appropriations bill with level funding for the State and P&A Grant Programs. Please see the Action Alert at the end of this message.
If you have not already responded to staff requests for Federal TBI Program Annual Reports and the Guide to State Government Brain Injury Policies, Funding and Services survey, please do so. The information collected through these initiatives is essential to demonstrating your State's progress and enhancing the TBI Act. NASHIA will be more active than ever before in TBI Act appropriations and reauthorization activities. We need your help to ensure the efforts are as effective as possible.
In your mailbox, you'll soon find a registration brochure for the 15 th Annual State of the States in Head Injury Meeting, September 8-11, 2004 at the Vanderbilt Marriott in Nashville. If you can't wait for the printed copy, an electronic version is posted to www.nashia.org . The sponsor brochure (in PDF format) is also posted to the site.
In the coming weeks, we'll be posting NASHIA's Federal Public Policy Platform and a Proposed Membership Dues Structure that will be voted on at the meeting. You'll also find Katie Cash Award nomination details and a call for volunteers to fill open positions for Regional Representatives on NASHIA's Board of Directors. Please visit the site for these important documents before you leave for Nashville.
NASHIA's Behavioral Health and Older Adults Fact Sheets were recently circulated within the TBI community and to our colleagues in sister agencies. The fact sheets are available free in packages of 100 and are downloadable from www.nashia.org . Please call the office or send an email to nashia@nashia.org for more copies.
Work continues on the Medicaid White Paper, and a new Employment Task Force will be formulating action steps for the recommendations from the Rehabilitation Services Administration's TBI & VR Meeting.
As many of you know, Allan I. Bergman, Brain Injury Association of America President and CEO, resigned his position effective July 2, 2004. On behalf of NASHIA, its members, Board and staff, I thank Allan for his dedication and salute his many accomplishments and contributions to our field.
Last, but definitely not least, please mark your calendars for Thursday, August 19, and watch for more details on NASHIA's TBI & Domestic Violence Webcast. NASHIA members may wish to organize "group viewings" with colleagues in your state. An electronic flyer will be circulated this week.
As always, I thank NASHIA members for your continued support. I strongly encourage your active involvement in the organization. Your participation benefits you, your agency, the Association, and individuals and families who have experienced brain injury. I welcome your suggestions on how NASHIA can serve you better.
Enjoy your summer.
Lorraine Wargo, PresidentNational Association of State Head Injury Administrators
4330 East West Highway, Suite 301
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-656-3500 NASHIA Office
www.nashia.org
ACTION ALERT:
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY05 Labor-HHS-Ed appropriations bill with level funding for both the State and P&A Grant programs ($6.375 mil for State Grants and $3 mil for P&A Grants). The House Appropriations Committee will consider the bill the week of July 12.
While level funding is an accomplishment in this environment, it will not support funding for every State and Territory as recommended by NASHIA. Fortunately, in the past, the Senate has instigated increases in TBI Act. It is unlikely we'll achieve the full FY05 request ($9.943 mil for State Grants and $6 mil for P&A Grants), but there's still a chance for modest increases.
ACTION: Please contact your Representatives, especially if they are serving on the House Appropriations Committee, urging them to support an increase in funding for this program. If you are currently receiving a grant, you may want to tell them that your state is receiving funding under this program, the benefits and when the grant funding is set to expire. If your state is not, you may want to convey that there is currently insufficient funding to support the needs in your state and that increased funding is necessary to do so.
For a listing of the committee members and their faxes/e-mail addresses click on: http://appropriations.house.gov . If you receive a response from your Representative, please be sure to let NASHIA know at slvaughn@nashia.org .
