Current Programs and Services

Helpline

BIAOH’s State Office staff responds to telephone and email requests for information, educational materials and assistance Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Contact: 1-866-OHIO-BIA (1-866-644-6242) toll-free in Ohio, 614-481-7100 in Columbus, or help@biaoh.org

Community Support Networks(CSNs)

Staffed BIAOH "field" offices provide service linkage, education and "community capacity building" assistance within multi-county areas. Of 15 proposed CSN areas identified in Ohio’s blueprint for a comprehensive resource coordination system, seven are currently in operation. (See map for CSN boundaries; colored areas are staffed.) CSN Coordinators work in close collaboration with each other, BIAOH’s State Office, and representatives from an array of service-providing agencies to maximize continuity and coordination of assistance.

Frequently Requested Educational Documents "FRED"

FRED files include articles, fact sheets, reports, videos and manuals on wide-ranging prevention and brain injury-related topics available through BIAOH’s State Office.

Programs & Services Database

 BIAOH regularly updates and maintains a database of over 2000 providers in over 70 service categories. State Office and CSN staff search the database to link individuals with needed services and supports.

Annual Conference & Membership Meeting

A two-day fall event for those who’ve experienced brain injury, family members, service providers, public policy makers and professionals. Outstanding educational, information-sharing and networking opportunity!

Outreach, Prevention & Training

BIAOH’s website (www.biaoh.org), update memos, newsletter, and action alerts inform members and supporters of developments within the brain injury and wider disability community, sources of assistance, upcoming events, and ways to become involved. Through trainings, curriculum development, literature distribution, and prevention initiatives, BIAOH also promotes awareness and understanding.

Advocacy

BIAOH promotes public policy and system changes to improve services to individuals with brain injury and their families to make them more accessible, available, appropriate, and acceptable. This effort is central to BIAOH’s purpose since in Ohio there is no identified state agency responsible for the long-term service and support needs of one of the state’s largest disability populations.

Linkage & Technical Assistance to Support Groups

BIAOH maintains a database of over 50 independent support groups around the state offering peer support. BIAOH regularly shares information with group leaders, and provides technical assistance upon request.

Answers to Questions about CSN (Community Support Network)

For a map of your area and a list of your contacts, click here.

What is the Community Support Network (CSN) Initiative?
The CSN Program is the Brain Injury Association of Ohio's (BIAOH) plan to extend and enhance its information, resource identification and outreach services by placing "field" staff in fifteen (15) geographic areas inclusive of all 88 counties. (Such services have traditionally originated from BIAOH's state office in Columbus, mainly through its toll-free helpline number.) Its primary goal is to link individuals with brain injury and their families to existing services and supports. CSN Coordinators (initially one per site) will also facilitate information exchange and collaboration between area providers and BIAOH support group members as a means to better link individuals with brain injury to existing opportunities for services and supports. For example, CSN Coordinators will establish regular contact with the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission's area offices, County Job and Family Services Departments, Boards of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, local hospitals, nursing facilities and rehabilitation centers, Special Education Regional Resource and Independent Living Centers, etc. BIAOH's state office provides CSN Coordinators with administrative support, supervision, training, and technical assistance, including access to its statewide database of programs and services.

Where Did the Idea for CSNs Originate?
CSNs, as a central and otherwise missing component of a comprehensive model service coordination system, respond to a number of goals and action steps identified in the 1999-2004 Strategic Plan, jointly developed by BIAOH and the Ohio Brain Injury Advisory Committee (BIAC). (BIAC, based at the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission is identified in statute as the state-level, inter-governmental planning and coordinating body for Ohioans with brain injury.) BIAOH and BIAC leaders examined the success of similar pilots in states such as Minnesota and Alabama before recommending CSNs be established as part of the state's model service coordination continuum. The model is known as "The Ohio Plan: Building Ramps to the Human Service System for People with Brain Injury.

What is the Start-Up Schedule for the 15 CSN Locations?
CSN sites are staffed as funds become available. The first two were established during 1997, one in Northwest Ohio (Area 1) and one in Northeast Ohio (Area 7) with RSC Brain Injury Program funds. In late 2000 a third CSN office in the Cleveland area was opened supported by RSC Brain Injury Program funds servicing Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake Counties. In addition, RSC's successful grant application to the Health Resources and Services Administration (U.S. Dept. HHS) for a TBI State Implementation grant supports four "targeted" CSNs (Areas 8, 11, 13 & 15). The grant is entitled "Operation MAPS: Maximizing Access to Programs and Supports for Individuals with Brain Injury.

What are "Targeted" CSNs and Where Are They Located?
"Targeted" CSNs, such as those identified in the TBI State Implementation Grant, have an added layer of goals related to "access" challenge areas. These challenge areas include the need, through the CSN program, to 1) increase outreach and assistance to minority populations and 2) achieve closer collaboration with key service agencies such as County Boards of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities, Independent Living Centers, Head Start, and County Mental Health and Drug Addiction Services. "Targeted" CSNs are co-located with organizations well positioned to assist in addressing these "access" challenge areas. Area #8's CSN is located within space provided by Society For Equal Access (S.E.A.) Independent Living Center in Dover; Area #11 CSN, located within space provided by Child Development Council (CDC) Head Start in Columbus; Area #13 within the Hamilton County Board of MR/DD in Cincinnati, and Area #15 located within Pioneer Independent Living Center at Washington State Community College.

What are the Key Merits and Principles of the CSN Initiative?

• Represents a central, all-but-missing component in a comprehensive model service coordination continuum for the state, known as "The Ohio Plan"
  
• Recognizes that individuals with brain injury and their families need life-long access to a comprehensive service coordination continuum, though they may choose to be actively engaged in the system only during times of special needs, such as those associated with periods of transition
  
• Responds to pervasive and frequently expressed consumer requests for assistance to "find the help we need when we need it"
  
• Builds linkages to other tiers of the existing system; does not supplant but complements established programs
  
• Values the development and delivery of services which are person and family-centered, provide community based support, and which promote choice and self-direction.

Future Development of CSNs
BIAOH and BIAC leaders see establishment of all 15 Ohio CSN sites as the logical next step toward development of "The Ohio Plan," a comprehensive model system assuring that individuals with brian injury and their families receive the assistance they need in accessing all available services and supports. They envision CSNs as enduring entities, providing individuals with brain injury and their families with reliable and consistent source of assistance to cope with the life-long challenges associated with this disability. Leaders also feel that CSNs might, at a future point, add other service components, such as prevention and social initiatives. They understand diverse and on-going sources of funding will be necessary for the growth and maintenance of BIAOH's CSN Program, and have begun to address this challenge.

For more information contact:
Brain Injury Association of Ohio
855 Grandview Ave., Suite 225
Columbus, OH 43215-1123
 

Phone: 614-481-7100 or toll free in Ohio:
866-OHIOBIA (866-644-6242)

Fax: 614-481-7103
e-mail: help@biaoh.org