History
The Brain Injury Association of Ohio was started by parents and family members of
individuals surviving brain injury, along with medical and rehabilitation professionals.
In the late 1970s, advances in medical technology and the emergency response system (life
flight, etc.) meant that greater numbers of individuals survived serious brain injury.
(Brain injury is the fastest growing cause of disability; an estimated 3,300 Ohioans,
predominately young people, survive each year with moderate to severe disabilities.)
Support groups, initially for family members of this "new" disability group,
began cropping up at hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Ohio and across the nation.
Participants learned from each others' experiences, and provided mutual support for this
life-altering event, impacting both the survivor and his or her family. While family
members found support groups to be extremely helpful, they soon realized they would need
to join forces and organize themselves to advocate on behalf of individuals with traumatic
brain injury. The national brain injury association, and its state affiliates, including
the Brain Injury Association of Ohio, were born from this realization.
Development Milestones
1982
• Meeting to establish the Ohio Chapter of the National Head Injury Foundation
convened in Rhodes Hall, Ohio State University Hospitals.
• Articles of Incorporation filed for the Ohio Chapter of the National Head Injury
Foundation.
1983
• Code of Regulations (bylaws) adopted.
• Chartered as the 15th National Head Injury Foundation Chapter.
• Second Annual Membership Meeting and Conference held in Warren, Ohio
• Head Injury Awareness Month proclaimed by governor for November (designation
obtained for subsequent years for the month of October)
1984
• Newsletter produced first as the "NHIF-Ohio Chapter Newsletter;" renamed
"Heads
Up Ohio" in winter of 1986 as the result of a name-the-newsletter contest
1986
• First staffed State Office opened with hiring of part-time Executive
Director
• Granted tax exempt status as a 501 (c) (3),
not-for-profit, business by the Internal Revenue Service
1987
• Affiliate Chapter Agreement adopted defining the roles, responsibilities and
relationship between the state association and local brain injury groups
1988
• First four local groups recognized as affiliate chapters (Cleveland, Lorain, Warren
and Youngstown; Dayton followed in 1989 and Cincinnati in 1990)
• Study Commission on Ohioans with Head Injury convened, bringing together
consumer, professional and state agency representatives, to document needs and
recommend state-level response to improve services and supports. Financial support
provided by a private contributor and the Ohio Legal Rights Services (OLRS). OLRS also offered
technical assistance.)
1989
• Study Commission Report issued - primary recommendation is to establish an
"Office on Head Injury" within state government to plan and coordinate services
and foster interagency collaboration to address the population's unmet needs.
• Passage of HB 594 creates Office of Head Injury and advisory council within the
Ohio
Department of Health', earlier in the year $86,000 appropriated through enactment of Am.
Sub. H.B. 111 (state budget bill) to fund the initiative.
1990
• Definition of DD in Ohio changed with passage of Am HR 594 expanding
opportunities for individuals whose injuries occurred prior to age 22 to receive
assistance through the mental retardation/developmental disabilities service system.
• Funding for Association's Helpline/Information and Resource Identification services
stabilized with grant from Ohio Dept. of Health's Office on Head Injury, continued in
subsequent years through the Head Injury Program at RSC.
• Ohio Survivors' Council created through vote to amend Code of Regulations (Bylaws).
1991
• Office on Head Injury and Council transferred to the Ohio Rehabilitation Services
Commission (RSC) to capture three times the state appropriation ($86,000) in federal
Rehabilitation Act match money. RSC renames to Head Injury Advisory Council and Program.
1992
• Statewide needs assessment completed by RSC's Head Injury Program, includes
association's members.
• Name changed to National Head Injury Foundation/Ohio Association.
• Ohio Valley Center (OVC) for Head Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation established
at Ohio State University with 4-year grant from US Dept. of Education Rehabilitation
Services Administration) to serve 4-state area. State Assoc. assists with grant
application, and subsequently (through a contractual arrangement with OSU) administers
three of the grant's eight projects: "Partners in Prevention," "Support
Group Leadership Network," and "Empowering Survivors." Grant later extended
for a fifth, supplemental year; and information distribution expanded to national scope.
(OVC currently operates with Model Systems grant funding; BIAOH continues to serve on its
advisory council.)
1993
• First annual legal seminar hosted by Clark, Perdue, Roberts and Scott with proceeds
benefiting the association.
• Ohio Traumatic Brain Injury Trust Fund Legislation introduced in an attempt to
create a statewide, coordinated care (i.e. case management) system supported with
surcharges on fines for those convicted of speeding or driving under the influence.
(States with such legislation in place are the most advanced in the provision of services
to the TBI population.) Advocates kept up a steady push for passage of the bill throughout
two sessions of the Ohio General Assembly with rallies, committee testimony, visits and
phone calls to legislators. Though legislators conceded the need for the proposed service
coordination system, political opposition to the bill's funding mechanism prevailed, and
the bill did not pass.
1994
• First Strategic Plan developed in collaboration with the Ohio Head Injury Advisory
Council for implementation from 1995-99.
1995
• First Annual Silent Auction held in conjunction with the association's fall
conference to benefit the Survivors' Council.
• Process Report on Strategic Plan's Implementation integrated as a standard part of
the Association annual meeting and conference.
1996
• Name changed to Brain Injury Association of Ohio, "doing business as"
Ohio Brain Injury Association.
• Community Support Network concept crystallized through study of other states'
experiences and focus groups held at the annual conference.
1997
• Amendment to State Budget Bill Provides $100 000 in match required for TBI State
Implementation grant application.
• First application for federal TBI State Implementation Grant submitted by Ohio
Rehabilitation Services Commission with assistance from BIAOH and the Head Injury Advisory
Council. Application not funded.
1998
• Second application for federal TBI State Implementation grant succeeds Ohio
Rehabilitation Services Commission receives 3-year funding from the Health Resources and
Services Administration (HRSA) within the US Dept. of Health and Human Services. Through a
subgrant from RSC, BIAOH assumes major responsibility for the grant's implementation.
Entitled "Operation MAPS," the grant funds expansion of BIAOH's "Community
Support Network" initiative, a step forward in building a comprehensive, service
coordination system for Ohio as envisioned in the strategic plan. Partnerships with county
boards of MRDD, Independent Living Centers, Ohio T.R.A.I.N. (or tech act) offices will
also be forged as part of the CSN pilot expansion.
• Second Joint Strategic Plan completed between BIAOH and the Head Injury Advisory
Council for implementation from 1999-2004.
• National Voluntary Health Agencies of Ohio accepts the Association as a member
(NVHA organizes federal, state and municipal government work-place giving campaigns on
behalf of its member organizations.)
• Grant to create TBT Medicaid Waiver and/or increased access to waiver services
awarded to Ohio Legal Rights Services from RSC Head Injury Program funds. (Association
instrumental in advocating for state dollars utilized for this initiative.)
Board Presidents
1982-1984 Joyce Rosenberger
1984-1986 Peggy Burns Keener
1986-1988 William Coker
1989-1991 Stephen Rosedale
1991-1993 Craig Denmead
1993-1995 June Evans
1995-1998 Joanne Crowley
1999-2000 Ernest Sylvester
2001-2004 Philip E. Cole, Esq.
2005-present Jon Fishpaw
Executive Director
1986-Present Suzanne Minnich
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