Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program

The Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program (BSCIP) is administered by the Florida Department of Health. BSCIP is primarily funded by the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program Trust Fund, as outlined in section 381.79, Florida Statutes. These funds are appropriated for the purpose of providing the cost of care for brain or spinal cord injuries as a payor of last resort to residents of this state. BSCIP also receives state general revenue funding as well.

BSCIP provides all eligible residents who sustain a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury the opportunity to obtain the necessary services that will enable them to return to an appropriate level of functioning in their community.

Our programs for eligible adult and pediatric clients provide direct case management and resource facilitation as primary services. This is accomplished by employing a statewide system of case managers and rehabilitation technicians. The program also employs regional managers who supervise staff in their region and who oversee the operation, development, and evaluation of the program's services and supports at the local level.

Services provided to clients may include: case management, acute care, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, transitional living, assistive technology, home and vehicle modifications, nursing home transition facilitation, and long-term supports for survivors and families through contractual agreements with community-based agencies. Once a client is accepted into the program, they will develop a specialized care plan based on their specific injury and needs with the goal of achieving community reintegration.

In addition to providing resource facilitation and funding for the services above, the program funds education, prevention, and research activities. It expands its services through a contract with the Brain Injury Association of America and the SportsAbility Alliance. Other services are provided through working relationships with the Florida Centers for Independent Living and the Florida Department of Education's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Section 381.76, F.S., requires that an individual must be a legal Florida resident who has sustained a moderate to severe traumatic brain or spinal cord injury that meets the state's definition of such injuries, has been referred to the BSCIP Central Registry, and must be medically stable to be eligible for services.

There must also be a reasonable expectation that with the provision of appropriate services and supports, the person can return to a community-based setting, rather than reside in a skilled nursing facility.

Definitions

Florida's definition of a traumatic brain injury is an insult to the skull, brain or its covering, resulting from external trauma, which produces an altered state of consciousness or anatomic, motor, sensory, cognitive, or behavioral deficit.

Florida's definition of a traumatic spinal cord injury is a lesion to the spinal cord or cauda equina resulting from external trauma with evidence of significant involvement of two of the following-motor deficit, sensory deficit, or bowel and bladder dysfunction.