Bucks IU Awarded Inaugural  BrainSTEPS Team Exceptional Performance Award

The Bucks County Intermediate Unit (Bucks IU) has been hon­ored with the inau­gur­al BrainSTEPS Team Exceptional Performance Award, dis­tin­guish­ing it as one of only four teams across Pennsylvania—and the sole recip­i­ent in the south­east­ern region of the Commonwealth—to receive this pres­ti­gious recognition.

BrainSTEPS (Strategies Teaching Educators, Parents, and Students) is a ground­break­ing ini­tia­tive designed to bridge edu­ca­tion, health­care, reha­bil­i­ta­tion, and fam­i­lies to sup­port Pennsylvania stu­dents (K‑12) who have expe­ri­enced acquired brain injuries (ABIs). The pro­gram, fund­ed through Pennsylvania’s Department of Education and Department of Health, deliv­ers vital brain injury con­sul­ta­tion and train­ing to schools statewide. It address­es a range of injuries, includ­ing con­cus­sions, trau­mat­ic brain injuries, and non-traumatic brain injuries.

“The Bucks IU BrainSTEPS team has become a trust­ed resource in the Bucks County com­mu­ni­ty, con­sis­tent­ly guid­ing edu­ca­tion­al teams as they work to rein­te­grate stu­dents with brain injuries back into the learn­ing envi­ron­ment,” stat­ed Gina Meissler, Bucks IU Program Director for Related Services. “This process is often com­plex and chal­leng­ing for stu­dents, fam­i­lies, and edu­ca­tors, and the Bucks IU’s BrainSTEPS team’s exper­tise and com­pas­sion­ate approach have been invaluable.” 

Since its estab­lish­ment, the Bucks IU BrainSTEPS pro­gram has sup­port­ed over 1,100 stu­dents in Bucks County, with 79% of cas­es involv­ing concussion-related injuries, 13% non-traumatic brain injuries, and 8% mod­er­ate to severe trau­mat­ic brain injuries.

Sarah Krusen, Bucks IU Speech-Language Pathologist and BrainSTEPS Lead, stat­ed, “Our Bucks IU BrainSTEPS Team is com­prised of high­ly expe­ri­enced pro­fes­sion­als and Certified Brain Injury Specialists with team mem­bers often asked to share their knowl­edge and expe­ri­ence with oth­ers through­out the state. The team also works close­ly with our dis­trict part­ners to build under­stand­ing and capac­i­ty with­in their own school teams so that we may all bet­ter serve the unique needs of stu­dents with brain injuries.” 

In addi­tion to Sarah Krusen, the Bucks IU BrainSTEPS Team includes Heather Karmazin, School Counselor; Lesley Hirsh, Occupational Therapist; Marci Cianni, Social Worker; Kelly McElrath, Behavior Analyst; and Amy Francek, Supervisor of Special Education-Related Services. The diverse exper­tise with­in the team pro­vides a well-rounded approach to meet­ing each child’s unique needs relat­ed to their indi­vid­ual brain injury. 

Parents or guardians seek­ing acquired brain injury sup­port should con­tact their school dis­trict to ini­ti­ate a refer­ral or reach out to the Bucks IU at 215–348-2940 ext. 2085. Statewide, more than 230 Brain Injury Educational Consultants serve on region­al teams through Pennsylvania’s Intermediate Units. 

For more infor­ma­tion on BrainSTEPS in Bucks County, please vis­it https://www.BucksIU.org/BrainSTEPS.