Federal Programs
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
In 1987 the House of Representatives' Committee on Appropriations called upon the Department of Health and Human Services to establish an Interagency Head Injury Task Force. At the same time, the Senate Committee on Appropriations urged increased efforts among Federal government agencies involved with traumatic head injury. In 1988 the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health convened the Task Force and issued the Interagency Head Injury Task Force Report [Word 25.5KB] in February 1989.
Administration on Aging
The Administration on Aging (AoA) is one of the nation's largest providers of home- and community-based care for older persons and their caregivers. Its mission is to develop a comprehensive, coordinated and cost-effective system of long-term care that helps elderly individuals to maintain their dignity in their homes and communities and to help society prepare for an aging population.
Created in 1965 with the passage of the Older Americans Act (OAA), AoA is part of a Federal, State, tribal and local partnership called the National Network on Aging. This network, serving about 7 million older persons and their caregivers, consists of 56 State Units on Aging; 655 Area Agencies on Aging; 233 Tribal and Native organizations; two organizations that serve Native Hawaiians; 29,000 service providers; and thousands of volunteers. These organizations provide assistance and services to older individuals and their families in urban, suburban, and rural areas throughout the United States.
The Aging and Disability Resource Center Grant Program, a cooperative effort of AoA and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was developed to assist States in their efforts to create a single, coordinated system of information and access for all persons seeking long term support to minimize confusion, enhance individual choice, and support informed decision-making.
Click here to order a copy of our latest "Guide to State Government Brain Injury Policies, Funding and Services" to learn more about TBI-related AOA programs and other State systems components.
Administration on Developmental Disabilities
The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) is the U.S. Government organization responsible for implementation of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, known as the DD Act. ADD, its staff and programs, are part of the Administration for Children and Families, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Click here to order a copy of our latest "Guide to State Government Brain Injury Policies, Funding and Services" to learn more about TBI-related ADD programs and other State systems components.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began studying home and recreational injuries in the early 1970s and violence prevention in 1983. From these early activities grew a national program to reduce injury, disability, death, and costs associated with injuries outside the workplace. In June 1992 the CDC established the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) [Word 26KB]Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) strengthens communications with Medicare beneficiaries, caregivers, partners, and stakeholders to enhance the information provided to beneficiaries; strengthens CMS' communications with States, Territories, tribal governments, and other partners, and stakeholders to enhance the information provided to Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries; and strengthens beneficiary program protections and improve communications with State Departments of Insurance to enhance the information provided to individuals regarding their health insurance rights.
As part of the President's New Freedom Initiative, CMS also provides some opportunities for funding to assist in implementing systemic changes to better serve individuals with disabilities in the setting of their choosing.
Real Choice Systems Change: These grants support infrastructure changes that will result in effective and enduring improvements in community long-term support systems.
Direct Service Worker: These demonstration grants support strategies to help recruit, train, and retain direct service workers who provide personal assistance to people with disabilities who need help with activities of daily living.
Employment Initiatives: Authorized under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (TWWIIA), CMS provides funds to states through the Medicaid Infrastructure Grants (MIG) and Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment (DMIE) Program to create systemic change that supports employment for people with disabilities.
CMS also administers the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) Program. The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) has the Workers with Disabilities Technical Assistance Center which assists States in enhancing or developing employment supports programs for working persons with disabilities. Most of the thirty plus States supported by the Center are funding their employment supports development with Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funds established under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-170).
President George W. Bush signed the Budget Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, into law on February 8, 2006. The new law, P.L. 109-171 [PDF 616 KB], contains several provisions relating to long-term services and supports, including Money Follows the Person; a new option for States to provide home- and community-based services (HCBS) without using a waiver process; allow States to provide any of the services now covered under HCBS waivers; and requires States to establish stricter eligibility (level of care) criteria for institutional services than for community-based services. In addition, States may continue to provide services through their existing waiver programs.
The bill also reauthorizes TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), makes changes in the SSI Program, as well as includes provisions of the Family Opportunity Act, which had been introduced as a separate bill.
Health Resources and Services Administration
HRSA provides national leadership, program resources and services needed to improve access to culturally competent, quality health care.
Maternal and Child Health Bureau
The Children's Bureau was established in 1912. In 1935, the U.S. Congress enacted Title V of the Social Security Act, which authorized the Maternal and Child Health Services programs and provided a foundation and structure for assuring the health of American mothers and children. The mission of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) is to provide national leadership, in partnership with key stakeholders, to improve the physical and mental health, safety and well-being of the maternal and child health (MCH) population which includes all of the nation's women, infants, children, adolescents, and their families, including fathers and children with special health care needs.
Federal TBI Program
Recognizing the large number of individuals and families struggling to access appropriate and community-based services, Congress authorized the Federal TBI Program in the TBI Act of 1996 (PL 104-166). The TBI Act of 1996 launched an effort to conduct expanded studies and to establish innovative programs for TBI. It gave the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) authority to establish a grant program for States to assist it in addressing the needs of individuals with TBI and their families. It also delegated responsibilities in the areas of research, prevention, and surveillance to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention respectively. Click here for an organizational chart illustrating the Program's location within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [PDF 85 KB]
Title XIII of the Children's Health Act of 2000 (PL 106-310) reauthorized the programs of the TBI Act of 1996. The TBI Act reauthorization also recognized the importance of protection and advocacy (P&A) services for individuals with TBI and their families by authorizing HRSA to make grants to State P&A Systems.
The goals of the Program are to assist States in expanding and improving State and local capability which, in turn, will enhance access to comprehensive and coordinated services for individuals with TBI and their families; use existing research-based knowledge, state-of-the-art systems development approaches and the experience and products of previous TBI grantees in meeting program goals; and generate support from local and private sources for sustainability of funded projects after Federal support terminates, through State legislative, regulatory, or policy changes which promote the incorporation of services for individuals with TBI and their families into the State service delivery systems.
Find more information about the State Agency and Protection and Advocacy grants in the TBI Collaboration Space.
See the Institute of Medicine’s 2006 Evaluating the HRSA Traumatic Brain Injury Program report for an external assessment of the Program. View the four page Report Brief (PDF 1056k)
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. Helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives, NIH scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as the causes, treatments, and even cures for common and rare diseases. For over a century, the National Institutes of Health has played an important role in improving the health of the nation. The NIH traces its roots to 1887 with the creation of the Laboratory of Hygiene at the Marine Hospital in Staten Island, NY.
Office for Civil Rights
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), promotes and ensures that people have equal access to and opportunity to participate in and receive services from all HHS programs without facing unlawful discrimination, and that the privacy of their health information is protected while ensuring access to care. Through prevention and elimination of unlawful discrimination and by protecting the privacy of individually identifiable health information, OCR helps HHS carry out its overall mission of improving the health and well-being of all people affected by its many programs.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was established by an act of Congress in 1992 under Public Law 102-321. With the stroke of a pen, an agency, separate and distinct from the National Institutes of Health or any other agency within the HHS, was created to focus attention, programs, and funding on improving the lives of people with or at risk for mental and substance abuse disorders.
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