Since 2011, states and partners have been collaborating on issues impacting children and youth with brain injury and its impact within the school environment. In 2022, the National Collaborative on Children's Brain Injury (NCCBI) merged with the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA) to become NASHIA's first special interest group, now referred to as NASHIA’s Collaborative on Children’s Brain Injury. This cooperative continues to work to identify critical gaps in the continuum of services and supports, collaborate with national key partner groups and establish common practices to make policy/research recommendations, and to share/develop resources on supports and services.
Join us as we share an overview of NCCBI’s history and purpose, a deeper dive of two main areas of focus, standards of practice and educational policy, and then discuss a call to action, and what that means for states and programs nationally.
Presenters
Jennifer Lundine, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at The Ohio State University and a researcher at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where she formerly worked as an SLP on the pediatric rehabilitation unit. Her research focuses on improving gaps in access to and utilization of services to support children with acquired brain injury (ABI) and identifying specific approaches to improve assessment and treatment practices for these children.
Dr. Brenda Eagan-Johnson, CBIST-AP, is the State Director for Pennsylvania’s BrainSTEPS Brain Injury School Consulting Program, a nationally recognized model. She is an expert consultant for two CDC-funded brain injury studies. Dr. Eagan-Johnson obtained teaching certifications in Elementary Education, Special Education (K-12), and as a Reading Specialist. Dr. Eagan-Johnson obtained her master’s degree in special education transition & acquired brain injury from the George Washington University and her doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in Mind, Brain, and Teaching (educational neuroscience). Dr. Eagan-Johnson is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist with Advanced Practice in NeuroRehabilitation (CBIST-AP) and serves on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Pediatric Brain Injury Society.
Melissa McCart, EdD, is the director of the Center on Brain Injury Research and Training and is a researcher, speaker and author on return to school following TBI. She focuses on educator training, best-practices, and educational policy. Prior to joining CBIRT, Melissa spent 17 years as a teacher and school administrator.