Tennessee Brighter Futures Building brighter futures for Tennesseans by improving how systems of support collaborate to identify, educate and serve people with co-occurring needs. Sun Icon in Pixel Style isolated on white background Consider Nathan's experience: Nathan is 24 years old. When Nathan was 2, he fell down the stairs and seemed to recover froma pretty scary concussion. Everyone soon forgot about the brain injury. By the time Nathan was in 2nd grade, he was getting into fights, having difficulty paying attention in school and falling behind his peers. In his teens, Nathan was involved with drugs and alcohol, continued falling behind in school and getting into trouble. By 24, Nathan had been arrested twice, had issues with substance abuse and keeping a job, experienced depression and attempted suicide. He would be homeless if his mom didn’t let him live athome. He was involved in multiple systems of care, but none knew about the concussion. Understanding the possible downstream effects from his brain injury may have preventedsome difficulties and could have helped him, his family and the professionals along the way. Mental health Trauma/Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Child Abuse Brain Injury Homelessness/Housing Instability Criminal and Juvenile Justice Domestic Violence Pain Substance Use Social determinants of health, includingracial/ethnic minorities & rural healthcare. The Purpose of Tennessee Brighter Futures To share expert information and build uponlearning from each system of support’sexperience so we strengthen how we can best What is Tennessee Brighter Futures (TBF)? A statewide group of agencies and organizationsthat help people who may have multiple diagnoses or needs. TBF is organized and facilitated by Brain Linksthrough a contract from the TennesseeDepartment of Health TBI Program. Tennessee Brighter Futures helps Systems of Support like these below to be prepared for peoplelike Nathan. TBF is made up of agencies and organizations with expert knowledge in one or moreof these key areas: Screen Support Educate Refer Client outcomes are better when Systems of Support work together andprovide services most relevant to their core missions. What’s in it for you, your agency andthose you serve? Get your system’s mission out to fellow service providers to increase referralsand improve outcomes for the people you serve across the state. 1 Save time and resources by knowing exactly where to refer people. 2 Improve your services by providing better, more well-rounded, relevant supportand education. For the whole person. For each individual. 3 Tennessee Brighter Futures meets every other month for 1.5 hours and oneSystem of Support shares their expertise at each meeting, with time for questionsand ideas. Attendees can receive a Certificate of Attendance. After each meeting, each agency receives curated Resource Pages designed tosupport your frontline providers. They contain carefully selected screening tools, websites, infographics, trainings and support groups and more. Brain Links sends a follow up email with the Resource Pages attached ready foryou to forward easily to your network. Image of purple QR code to TBF website. How does it work? To download Resource Pagesand recordings from prior meetings, go to https://www.tndisability.org/tennessee-brighter-futures To Join TN Brighter Futures, send an email to tbi@tndisability.org Revised 9/2023