Nation Watch—Advocacy
Call for Action: Heroes at Home Act
Last Updated:
April 5, 2007
POLITICS ASIDE - WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD FROM ALL ACROSS GEORGIA TO CAPITOL HILL BY SENDING LETTERS OF SUPPORT
On March 29, 2007 Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) introduced the Heroes At Home Act of 2007, a series of initiatives to improve services and support for Armed Forces personnel with TBI and their families. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is an original co-sponsor. BIAA Honorary Spokesperson Lee Woodruff and President/CEO Susan Connors were among the invited speakers at the press event. Together they emphasized the need for public/private cooperation in the provision of post-acute care and called for increased family caregiver training and support. To view the press release conference.
BIAA and BIAG proudly endorses the Heroes at Home Act of 2007 as a critical step forward in meeting needs of service members with TBI. The bill contains two key provisions of interest to BIAA and BIAG:
1. Implementation of an objective, computer-based assessment protocol to measure cognitive functioning both prior to and after deployment in order to improve the screening process for TBI in soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
2. Establishment of a Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Personal Care Attendant Training and Certification Program, which would train and certify family caregivers of TBI patients as personal care attendants, enabling them to provide quality care at home while also qualifying for compensation from the VA.
Note: The legislation specifies that the curricula for the TBI Family Caregiver Personal Care Attendant Training and Certification Program “shall incorporate applicable standards and protocols utilized by certification programs of national brain injury care specialist organizations.”
HERE IS WHAT WE CAN DO TODAY......
1- Initiate a letter-writing campaign as soon as possible generating short notes from brain injury advocates in GEORGIA thanking Senator Clinton for introducing this bill and for her leadership on brain injury issues. (A sample thank-you letter to Senator Clinton attached)
2- Encourage brain injury advocates to write to their Senators and encourage them to cosponsor the Heroes at Home Act of 2007. (A sample letter that can be used by brain injury advocates to ask your Senator to cosponsor the Heroes at Home Act of 2007 attached).
Momentum is on our side right now and NOW is the time to be heard!