Programs
Alaska
TBI Lead Agency
Dept. of Health & Social Services
Division of Behavioral Health
3601 C St., Suite #934
Anchorage, AK 99501
Marsha (Jan) Eidlebach
TBI Coordinator
907-269-3619
907-269-3410 (Fax)
Service Delivery
In Alaska individuals with TBI would contact the Division of Behavioral Health grantees within their community to apply for services. An adult with persistent, disabling, non-psychotic cognitive, behavioral and emotional problems will qualify as Severely Emotionally Disturbed (SED) Adult for Alaska Medicaid and mental health grant purposes. A child with the same difficulties, with or without psychosis, will qualify as an SED Youth. The community-based behavioral health provider links treatment and rehabilitation for the disabling cognitive, behavioral, and emotional disorders that the person needs.
Children and youth with a TBI who have an Axis I and/or II Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision diagnosis and two areas of functional limitations qualify for community mental health services statewide. They can be served through the DD system if they have functional limitations that make them DD eligible. Senior adults with TBI can be served through collaboration with Senior Services and Commission on Aging. The Division of Behavioral Health (DBH) is now requiring all grantees to screen for TBI. Similarly, the DBH is implementing a new management information system (MIS) [Alaska's Automated Information Management System (AKAIMS)] which will provide demographic as well as service data in the future. Survey of the MIS by diagnosis revealed ninety-four people receiving waiver services who also had a TBI (though TBI was not identified as the principal qualifying condition for the waiver).
Although Alaska does not have a trust fund for TBI, there are four groups (MH, DD, SA, and older adult) who are included as beneficiaries to the Mental Health Trust Fund. Persons with TBI who fit into one of these categories may benefit from this fund.
Find out more information on this State's services in its current profile by clicking here. [PDF 50KB]. You can also order a hardcopy of our latest "Guide to State Government Brain Injury Policies, Funding and Services" for profiles of all States and much more.
HRSA-Funded Projects
In 2000 the Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities succeeded in obtaining an HRSA Planning Grant. The Brain Injury Association of Alaska (BIAA) was the primary contractor but subsequently was dissolved which resulted in an unsuccessful initial Planning Grant effort. The Division was able to obtain a new Planning Grant for a second year, and the planning effort continued until March of 2003. As part of the planning effort, the Alaska Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board was established to plan for a comprehensive service delivery system. The mental health section of the Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities was named the Lead Agency for Alaska to develop the system. A statewide Needs and Resources Assessment collecting date from individuals with TBI, family members, and agencies serving those persons was completed in February 2003.
The division was awarded a three-year HRSA Implementation Grant beginning April 1, 2003, to enhance and improve the State's infrastructure system that provides for treatment and rehabilitation services for individuals with disabling cognitive, behavioral, and emotional manifestations of a TBI, and provides them with links to services for the physical and sensory manifestations. As of July 2004, under what is now known as the Division of Behavioral Health (mental health and substance use) grantees are required to screen for TBI.
The Implementation Grant has afforded the Alaska Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board the resources to hire an Executive Director as well as the State of Alaska's ability to hire a full-time Statewide TBI Services Coordinator. An additional highlight is that Implementation funding has supported a Statewide TBI Training Conference with follow-up Regional Trainings targeted toward community-based behavioral health care grantees. Dr. Tom McAllister is serving as the State's expert consultant in the training process. Additionally, the Implementation Grant is working to sustain the incorporation of culturally competent TBI services within Alaska's service delivery systems including developing a methodology for TBI screening among the special education population within the Anchorage School District.
Find more information on this State's project in its current grant profile.
Promising Practices
Fifty percent consumer/family member representation on the Advisory Council is a promising practice. Alaska is developing
a Medicaid Rehabilitation Services pilot for persons with TBI who have mental illness and functional limitations.
Click here for a summary of the State's Brain Injury Training Portfolio [PDF]
