Trauma Informed Approach to 

Brain Injury Screening 

September 29, 2023

TBI TARC is supported by contract number 

HHSP233201500119I from the U.S. Administration for 

Community Living, Department of Health and Human 

Services, Washington, D.C. 20201

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Welcome to Today’s Webinar

Maria Crowley

TA Lead

TBI TARC/NASHIA

Judy Dettmer

TA Lead

TBI TARC/NASHIA

Thank you for joining us to learn about Trauma 

Informed Approach to Brain Injury Screening.

This webinar is sponsored by the Traumatic Brain 

Injury Technical Assistance and Resource Center. 

TBI TARC is funded by the Administration for 

Community Living.

The TBI TARC is administered by the Human 

Services Research Institute (HSRI) with the 

assistance of the National Association of State 

Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA).

This webinar is free and open to the public.

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Webinar Logistics

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• Participants will be in listen-only mode during the webinar. 

Please use the chat feature in Zoom to post questions and 

communicate with the hosts. 

• During specific times in the webinar, we will have opportunity 

to respond to questions that have been entered into chat.

• The webinar will be live captioned in English and live 

interpreted in Spanish.

• Live English captions can be accessed by clicking the “CC” 

button at the bottom of your Zoom screen.

• Live Spanish interpretation can be accessed by clicking the 

“interpretation” button at the bottom of your Zoom screen 

(world icon). Once in the Spanish channel, please silence the 

original audio. 

• Se puede acceder a la interpretación en español en vivo 

haciendo clic en el botón "interpretation" en la parte inferior de 

la pantalla de Zoom (icono del mundo). Una vez en el canal 

español, por favor silencie el audio original.

• This live webinar includes polls and evaluation questions. 

Please be prepared to interact during polling times. 
Feedback and Follow-Up

• After the webinar, you can send follow-up questions 

and feedback to tbitarc@hsri.org

(Please note: This email address will not be monitored 

during the webinar.)

• A recording, including a pdf version of the slides, will 

be available on the ACL website (acl.gov)

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Who’s Here?

“In what role(s) do you self-identify? Select all that apply.”

1. Person with a traumatic brain 

injury (TBI) or other disability

2. Family member or friend of a 

person with a TBI or other 

disability

3. Self-advocate / advocate

4. Peer-specialist / peer-mentor

5. Social worker, counselor, or care 

manager

6. Researcher / analyst

7. Service provider organization 

employee

8. Government employee (federal, 

state, tribal, or municipal)

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Meet Today’s Presenter 

Jack Storti – 

CBIS, CAS, ILST

Director of Denver 

Reentry

The Brain Injury Alliance of 

Colorado 

Jack@BIAColorado.org

Jack Storti, is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist and a Certified Addiction’s 

Specialist. He is the Director of Denver Reentry at the Brain Injury Alliance of 

Colorado, where he began working in 2020. Through this program, he is a 

brain injury reentry specialists, providing support services to brain injury 

survivors who have recently been in-custody and attending specialty 

treatment courts. In this role he also provides technical assistance to court 

staff and probation / parole officers in developing reasonable and accessible 

accommodations to increase survivors’ chances in achieving their various 

legal requirements and restarting their lives. Jack has been working within the 

brain injury field since 2018 as an Independent Living Skills Trainer. He also 

has experience being a court ordered treatment therapist for nearly a decade. 

He has lived experience in the legal system, in the recovery from addiction 

and brain injury. Jack graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver 

in 2015 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services - Addiction Studies. 

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OVERVIEW

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Denver Reentry Program 

•Alternatives to Jail grant

• Sobriety Court - Community

• Wellness Court - Community & In-custody

• REACH Court - Community & In-custody

• Helping, Engaging Motivating (HEM) Court - Community

• Outreach Court - Community

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On the day to day

• Screening BI history & Intake with Colorado BI screening protocol 

• Reentry Specialist “case management” like services then full BIAC Connection

• AHEAD Groups

• Court & Community Supervision Accommodations

• Reentry Planning 

• If releasing soon: Resources

• If not releasing soon or facing a long sentence, BI symptom reentry plan

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CO’s BI Screening 

Protocol

Screening tools must be:

• Valid and reliable

• Sensitive to the population

• Appropriate to the setting

• Screen  explain results

• Symptoms Questionnaire  how past injuries 

are impacting survivor today

• Resources & Plan 

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BRAIN INJURY 

SCREENING: 

TRAUMA 

INFORMED 

APPROACH
Expanded OSU

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At the beginning and throughout

• Before getting started share that after the screening, results will be explained. If results indicate 

injury history, there will be next steps to identify symptoms. Strategies to address those symptoms 

will be shared. Referrals for resources will be discussed and those agreed upon will also be made to 

start addressing any areas of concern.

• Provide a gentle reminder that they only need to share the information they are comfortable 

sharing and that an estimated age range and typical effect of LOC / AOC is enough.

• Throughout the screening, take notice if a client appears uncomfortable (shifting body language, 

stuttering speech, sudden language gaps, statements like “oh, I don’t know, come on!” or “I am a 

different person now”) 

• Thank them for sharing their experiences and acknowledge their effort.

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A few key points

• Hospital & ER Visits

• Abuse / Assault / Intimate Partner 

Violence 

• Explosions and blasts

• Traumatic Injury to Non- Traumatic 

Injury (External vs. Internal)

• Overdoses

• Suicide Attempts

• Repeated Injuries

• Before moving on

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SYMPTOMS 

QUESTIONNAIRE 
Find your flow

• Explain they are answering in 

general 

• Adapt to their environment

• Symptoms relate to each other, 

connect the questions

• Explain follow up skills and 

strategies

• Resource planning together 

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Resource connection for survivors

• Engage in teamwork style resources

• I know of this resource, explain, are you interested

• May need assistance identifying needed resources

• Identify, organize, prioritize and most important:

• Individualize!

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Data from 22-23 Denver Reentry 

• 34% recidivism rate

• 87.5% positivity rate of screening

• 69.2% said yes to first time screen, first time learning 

about BI 

• 46.4% had anoxic injuries

• 69% continued to engage with BIAC after intake 

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QUESTIONS

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Real-Time Evaluation Questions (1 of 2)

• Please take a moment to respond to these six 

evaluation questions to help us deliver high-quality 

TBI TARC webinars

• If you have suggestions on how we might improve 

TBI TARC webinars, or if you have ideas or requests 

for future webinar topics, please send us a note at 

TBITARC@hsri.org

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Real-Time Evaluation Questions (2 of 2)

1. Overall, how would you rate the quality of this webinar?

2. How well did the webinar meet your expectations?

3. Do you think the webinar was too long, too short, or about right?

4. How likely are you to use this information in your work or day-to-day 

activities?

5. How likely are you to share the recording of this webinar or the PDF 

slides with colleagues, people you provide services to, or friends?

6. How could future webinars be improved?

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Thank You

The Traumatic Brain Injury Technical Assistance and Resources Center (TBI TARC) is 

an initiative from the Administration for Community Living that helps TBI State 

Partnership Program grantees promote access to integrated, coordinated services 

and supports for people who have sustained a TBI, their families, and their 

caregivers. The Center also provides a variety of resources to non-grantee states, 

people affected by brain injury, policymakers, and providers.

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