71-3705.

Brain Injury Assistance Program; created; administration.

(1) The Brain Injury Assistance Program is created. The program shall be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services through a contract with the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The program shall provide assistance for individuals with a brain injury by paying for contracts with outside sources that specialize in the area of brain injury. Such outside sources shall operate, at a minimum, statewide, and also in targeted areas as defined and determined in the contract, with individuals with a brain injury; work to secure and develop community-based services for individuals with a brain injury; provide support groups and access to pertinent information, medical resources, and service referrals for individuals with a brain injury; and educate professionals who work with individuals with a brain injury.

(2) The program may provide assistance with the following activities, including, but not limited to:

(a) Resource facilitation. Resource facilitation shall be given priority and made available to provide ongoing support for individuals with a brain injury and their families for coping with brain injuries. Resource facilitation may provide a linkage to existing services and increase the capacity of the state's providers of services to individuals with a brain injury by providing brain-injury-specific information, support, and resources and enhancing the usage of support commonly available in a community. Agencies providing resource facilitation shall specialize in providing services to individuals with a brain injury and their families;

(b) Voluntary training for service providers in the appropriate provision of services to individuals with a brain injury;

(c) Followup contact to provide information on brain injuries for individuals on the brain injury registry established in the Brain Injury Registry Act;

(d) Activities to promote public awareness of brain injury and prevention methods;

(e) Supporting research in the field of brain injury;

(f) Providing and monitoring quality improvement processes with standards of care among brain injury service providers; and

(g) Collecting data and evaluating how the needs of individuals with a brain injury and their families are being met in this state.

(3) Administration costs of the program shall not be more than ten percent of the total expenditures of the program.

(4) Data collection and evaluation conducted pursuant to this section shall not be a burden or unnecessary hardship to individuals with a brain injury or service providers.

(5) Nothing in this section shall require a professional, provider, caregiver, or individual to receive training as a condition of receiving or providing nonmedical services to individuals with a brain injury.