BRAINS Foundation
The BRAINS Foundation is an innovative foundation that has come to fruition after a year of intensive work with community and the Foundation Board. The Foundation intends to increase the accessibility for services in the areas of Psychological and Neuropsychological Assessment and Physical and Occupational Therapy in the first year. Thereafter, it is hoped that all lines of services will have mentors training through the Foundation to become fully licensed professionals in their field.
Joining with Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital’s Department of Psychology, the main goal for 2009 is to recruit to pre-doctoral students to accept positions in the Pre-Doctoral Neuropsychological Training Consortium. Students in this track will have the opportunity to experience both hospital and outpatient neuropsychological models. The student placement through the BRAINS Foundation will offer both neuropsychological and counseling experiences. The chance to engage in counseling with children/adolescents experiencing neuropsychological differences is an opportunity to not only understand the process of evaluation, but to also develop and use interventions. This experience will assist the pre-doctoral interns to understand the importance of thinking about ecological validity (how the testing can help to inform real world situations).
Extending the Dollar to Serve More Families:
The BRAINS Foundation has developed a unique model to manage operational costs. The Board and Incorporators of the Foundation all volunteer their time. This eliminates the overhead expenses for management. Further, there is less focus on recovering an hourly charge for student hours. Rather, the model invests in the costs to cover student stipends and benefits as primary employee costs. By offering services in the BRAINS location, clients experience the same inviting and high quality environment, which has been demonstrated to increase positive outcomes from care. In the first year, accreditation costs to validate the quality and expertise of training will not be incurred. Yet, the training quality is already in place to ensure quality supervision and didactic training. In years ahead, the Foundation plans to pursue accreditation by the American Psychological Association and other organizations so interns and the community are aware that, even though this is a non-profit entity, quality and oversight will not be compromised.
With this model, costs are tremendously reduced. In consideration of the current Michigan economy, this means more families and children can be served with substantially fewer dollars necessary to provide the treatment.
Families who wish to apply for low-cost services through the BRAINS Foundation may apply by completing the application form.
The BRAINS Foundation greatly appreciates donations to support these efforts. Donors may contact us for more information or checks can be made to “The BRAINS Foundation” – charitable tax donations receipts are available.