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NC division launches TBI dashboard and urges funding for statewide waiver expansion
Summary
At a Division webinar, leaders announced a new North Carolina traumatic brain injury (TBI) dashboard and said the TBI waiver pilot serving seven counties has 107 slots nearly full; expansion requires recurring funding from the General Assembly, which has authorized but not funded expansion.
Ginger Yarbrough, chief clinical officer for IDD, TBI and Olmstead at the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services, and Scott Pokorney, the division's TBI team lead, announced a newly launched North Carolina TBI dashboard and outlined barriers to expanding the current TBI waiver pilot.
The dashboard, Yarbrough said during the division's Side-by-Side webinar, is now live and currently displays 2024 data that will be refreshed every six to 12 months. "We have the North Carolina TBI dashboard that is now live," she said, and the division plans a follow-up webinar March 16 to demonstrate the dashboard's functionality and how it will support planning under the state action plan.
Pokorney described the TBI waiver pilot, which has been operational in the Alliance catchment area since 2018 and serves Cumberland, Durham, Harnett, Johnston, Mecklenburg, Orange and Wake counties. "There's currently a 107 slots, available for the waiver," he said, and he added the program is close to filling those slots. He said advocates and the division have pushed for statewide expansion but noted a key constraint: "The General Assembly did provide the authority to expand the waiver, but they did not provide any funding or slots to support that expansion."
Panelists said the division and tailored plan partners are preparing operational details — including a registry of interest and screening processes — so the program can scale immediately if recurring appropriation and additional slots are provided. Pokorney also flagged outreach and stigma-reduction work tied to the dashboard, and noted an earlier policy advocacy win: the state added an additional recurring $1,000,000 in state funds in recent fiscal years to support TBI programs.
Why it matters: the dashboard and waiver planning intersect with long waitlists and limited state-funded slots for services. The panel noted that improved data on service use and wait-list dynamics will inform advocacy for funding and help target training, screening and services to areas of greatest need.
Next steps: the division will host a dedicated dashboard webinar on March 16 and will post the dashboard and the TBI state action plan materials for public review and comment when available.
