Brain Injury Alliance of NJ

Our mission is to improve the quality of life for anyone impacted by brain injury by providing support, advocacy, and information, while promoting brain injury prevention.

Our vision is a world where all individuals with brain injury and their caregivers maximize their quality of life, the consequences of all unavoidable brain injuries are minimized and all preventable brain injuries are prevented.

Since being founded in 1981 by a small group of concerned parents of children who had sustained brain injury, we’ve grown to become the primary source of information, education, advocacy, support, and hope for people with brain injury and their families in New Jersey. Today, our dedicated staff, board, volunteers, donors, and community partners provide service to 10,000 New Jersey residents each year.

Our Helpline operates Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. When you call, you will speak to a trained Community Resource Specialist who can provide support, resources and information on brain injury, as well as BIANJ programs. Everything discussed is confidential.

Brain injury support groups allow people with brain injuries and their family members to meet others in similar situations. They gain valuable emotional support, form friendships, obtain information, and discuss a variety of brain injury topics. Our support groups are located in 17 counties & statewide virtually. The Alliance monitors the activities of these groups, the qualifications of their leaders, and provides information regularly.

CAMP TREK (Together in Recreation, Exploration and Knowledge) is the Alliance’s week-long residential camp program. It provides a valuable experience for individuals with brain injury, offering socialization, recreation and fun. The week also affords a week of respite for caregivers, who often give 24-hour care the remainder of the year.

To be eligible, applicants must have a brain injury, be 18 years or older, and reside in New Jersey.

Applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis. For questions about Camp TREK, contact us at 732-745-0200, or info@bianj.org.

BIANJ is an approved Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) /Medicaid-approved Support Coordination agency. Support Coordinators provide care management services to adults 21 + who are eligible for DDD services.  Individuals and their families are assisted in identifying services and developing individualized plans based on a person’s needs.

The Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey’s Support Coordination team is a collaborative group of professionals with varied backgrounds, work, and life experiences that enrich the collective knowledge base. The team will monitor services and supports, conduct regular visits to ensure that the plan is on track, and assist by staying connected to family members, caregivers, and communities.

BIANJ’s Support Coordination Services are currently being provided in Bergen, Morris, Essex, Union, Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, and Monmouth Counties.

To be determined eligible for DDD services, an individual must:

• Be a New Jersey resident
• Be Medicaid eligible
• Meet the functional criteria of having a developmental disability, and must document that s/he has a chronic physical and/or intellectual impairment that
• Manifested in the developmental years, before age 22;
• Is lifelong; and
• Substantially limits the individual in at least three of the following life activities:
  • self-care; learning; mobility; communication; self-direction; economic self-sufficiency; and the ability to live independently.