Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Advisory Council 

Council Membership

The Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program Advisory Council is comprised of 16 members appointed by the State Surgeon General (Chapter 381.78, F.S.). Appointed members serve a four-year term on the council.

Membership Representation:

• Four members who have a brain injury or are family members of individuals who have a brain injury.
• Four members who have a spinal cord injury or are family members of individuals who have a spinal cord injury.
• Two members who represent  the special needs of children who have a brain or spinal cord injury.
• The balance shall be physicians, other allied health professionals, administrators of brain and spinal cord injury programs, and representatives from support groups that have expertise in areas related to the rehabilitation of individuals who have brain or spinal cord injuries.

Advisory Council Member Directory

Would You Like to Serve on the Advisory Council?

As vacancies on the Council occur, the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program pulls submitted applications from it file and reviews them to determine if the applicants meet the statutory requirement to serve in the vacant seat. Those that meet the requirement, are then submitted to the Chair of the Advisory Council for review. The Chair of the Council appoints a committee, including the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program Bureau Chief, to review the applicants and make a recommendation to the State Surgeon General. The State Surgeon General reviews the recommendation, and if in agreement, appoints the individual to Advisory Council.

If you would like to apply to serve on the Advisory Council and have your application on file, you may complete an Advisory Council Application (71.5 kb pdf) and submit it, along with a resume, to the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program.

Advisory Council Meetings    

          Upcoming Meeting Information

         November 18,  2011 Teleconference
              9:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST
              1 (888) 808-6959, passcode: 2454045#

           Previous Meeting Information

               May 9, 2011 Teleconference
               2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. EST
               1 (888) 808-6959, passcode: 2454045#

                Meeting Notice (79.0 kb pdf)
                Meeting Agenda (33.14 kb pdf)
                11-05-10 Draft Minutes (127.15 kb pdf)
                Budget (17.51 kb pdf)
                Proposed Advisory Council Bylaws (42.80 kb pdf)
                2009-2010 Annual Performance Report (1.42 kb pdf)

Advisory Council Task Forces

The Advisory Council establishes task forces to focus attention on specific issues. Task forces must establish a goal and are expected to report their progress to the Advisory Council during each Council meeting. Once their goal has been met, task forces are dissolved. Anyone interested in serving on a task force is encouraged to contact the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program Advisory Council Liaison at (866) 875-5660 for more information.

The following task forces are currently established by the Advisory Council:

    Comprehensive Benefits for Catastrophic Injuries
        Goals:

• Introduce lifetime healthcare benefits for brain and spinal cord injury survivors in the State of Florida similar to the
  State of Michigan's No Fault legislation.
• To provide guidance to the BSCIP on additional funding requests as resource demands fluctuate.

    Research Information
       Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association
       Insurance Information Institute (1.08mb pdf)

   Diaphragm Pacer - Ventilator Dependent
         Goal:

• Establish a statewide network system to implement and evaluate the diaphragm pacer program for adult patients based on standards of care and practice.
  
  Order of Selection
     Goal:
  
  Provide recommendations to the Advisory Council to assist in more clearly defining an order of selection process including 1) how to determine when an order of selection is necessary and initiated; 2) how the order of selection will be carried out in terms of who would be provided services and/or what services would be provided; 3) when to rescind the order of selection; and 4) in supplement, the task force will provide for review to the BSCIP Advisory Council any additional information or recommendations which may be identified during the course of fulfilling the primary charges as above.

                Meeting Minutes
                    May 02, 2011 (51.06kb pdf)
                    March 29, 2011(33.90kb pdf)
                    April 13, 2011 (46.38 kb pdf)
                    April 18, 2011(46.71kb pdf)
                    April 25, 2011 (53.44kb pdf)

                 Task Force Reports to the Advisory Council
                   May 09, 2011 (13.30kb pdf)

      School Reintegration
            Goals:

• Develop best practices models for TBI re-integration considerate of variability across recovery and possible related issues;
• Improve school- re-integration and transition processes of students post-traumatic-brain injury ( TBI)
• Coordinate across hospital-home-educational systems in order to better identify, access and monitor students with TBI;
• Increase TBI awareness via improved, established teacher trainings )pre/post-injury changes, strategies for educating students with TBI, etc);
• Develop teacher training system for similar TBI trainings to be afforded to teachers statewide (i.e. use of modules, use of FDLRS as resource for training system development, etc...);
• Review available TBI educational resources or information (i.e. Understanding & Teaching Students with TBI made available by DOE) and update as deemed necessary;
• Determine how to better integrate with medical community to enhance reintegration process across settings (i.e. use of hospitals, liaisons, etc.);
• Develop best practice models or systems for TBI school re-integration while in consideration of 504 and RTI (Response to Intervention).
• Review curriculum issues upon and through reintegration (modified curriculum vs. HHIP regular, etc.)

    Standards Revisions
          Goal:

• Update current standards for each discipline (Psychology, Nursing, Medicine, and Administration and add additional standards to represent survivors and families as may be needed. 

               Meeting Minutes:
               June 2011 (6.93kb pdf)

               Meeting Notices:
               January 20, 2012 Meeting Notice (3.27 pdf)

     Utilization of Assistive Technology for TBI/SCI
         Goal: A goal statement is currently under development for this task force.

      November 5, 2010 (239kb, pdf)

    2009