![From Hurricane Response To Long-Term Recovery (Part 6)](images/article3.jpg)
Children's Trauma Network Offers Resources
By Rebecca A. Clay
Among the most poignant casualties of Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita were children. Many lost not only their homes,
but also cherished pets and toys. Others may have seen
severely injured people or even dead bodies. Still others
witnessed anxiety and fear in their parents who are usually
confident.
To help parents and service providers assist children, the National
Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), funded by SAMHSA's Center
for Mental Health Services (CMHS), has made the Network's resources
available for use in both immediate crisis responses and long-term
recovery settings.
![photo of Katrina survivors at the Houston Astrodome in the early days after the storm](images/article6a.jpg) |
Katrina survivors, many of them
children, found shelter at the Houston Astrodome in the
early days after the storm. Photo by Andrea Booher,
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) |
SAMHSA has been deploying its own staff, experts from other Network
sites, and volunteer providers from across the Nation to help ensure
children's needs are met, said Senior Project Officer Cecilia Rivera-Casale,
Ph.D., of the Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services
Branch at CMHS.
"When you meet these children, there's a glazed look on their
faces," said Dr. Rivera-Casale, who visited a shelter in Jackson,
MS. "They seemed remote and disconnected—one of the signs
of trauma."
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The Network
Across the Nation, NCTSN works to improve the quality,
effectiveness, and availability of services for traumatized
children and youth. With a national coordinating center
co-housed at the University of California Los Angeles
and Duke University, the Network also includes more than
50 member sites—ideally suited to help the Gulf
Coast evacuees, who have been sent to 48 states plus
the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Now the Network is offering more than two dozen tools to help
mental health professionals, pediatricians, parents, educators,
relief workers, social service personnel, and others help children
affected by the hurricanes.
"A lot of mental health personnel who don't normally work in disaster
situations have been called upon to work with those affected by
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," said Melissa J. Brymer, Psy.D.,
who manages NCTSN's terrorism and disaster work. "Our goal
is to provide resources to people working with kids to help them
understand what we know from the research and from experience in
past disasters will make a difference in a child's recovery."
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Experts in the Field
Currently, NCTSN is calling on its members for help.
"Some of our centers have specialized expertise," explained
Dr. Brymer, citing centers that specialize in very young children,
evacuee situations, and school-based interventions as examples.
"We've drawn on that expertise and asked our Network centers
to develop materials for use in these disasters."
Available at no charge on the Network's Web site at www.nctsn.org,
the hurricane resources are organized by target audience. Several
are specifically designed for use by mental health and medical professionals.
![photo of Katrina survivors at the Houston Astrodome in the early days after the storm](images/article6b.jpg) |
Other photos by Andrea Booher,
FEMA |
One of the most important resources is the Psychological First
Aid package for mental health providers. Based on research
as well as experience from the field, the materials help providers
meet the immediate needs and concerns of children and families,
reduce their distress, and start them on the path toward healthy
coping. To order a copy, just go to the center's Web site, click
on Psychological First Aid, and sign in.
"Psychological First Aid is based on the same principles
as physical first aid," explained Alan Steinberg, Ph.D., the
center's Associate Director. "In the immediate aftermath of
traumatic events, Psychological First Aid can reduce initial
distress and foster healthy adaptive functioning."
Other resources specifically designed for mental health and medical
professionals include the following:
Children Needing Extra Help: Guidelines for Mental
Health Providers. This one-pager provides an overview of treatment
recommendations.
-
Healing After Trauma Skills Manual. Originally developed
after the Oklahoma City bombing, this evidence-informed intervention
manual offers more than 100 pages of information about children
who have experienced disasters or other traumas plus tips for
helping children share their thoughts and develop positive coping
skills. Aimed primarily at children from pre-kindergarten to
early middle school, the manual can be used with individual
children, small groups, or classrooms.
-
Providers' Guide: Helping Children in the Wake of Disaster.
Prepared by the Yale Child Study Center's National Center for
Children Exposed to Violence, these guidelines help relief workers,
parents, and others address children's concerns after a natural
disaster. The guidelines alert caregivers to signs of adjustment
difficulties, share tips for addressing those problems, and
offer suggestions for ways to talk to children about their fears.
Several resources address mental health issues in medical settings.
The Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress Toolkit for Health Care
Providers, for example, provides an introduction to traumatic
stress in injured or ill children, practical tips and tools, and
handouts for parents. Childhood Traumatic Grief Educational
Materials for Pediatricians and Pediatric Nurses offers brief
fact sheets plus in-depth guidelines for recognizing traumatic grief
in children.
Medical Events and Traumatic Stress in Children and Families
presents personal, anecdotal, and statistical information about
how traumatic medical events can affect children, their parents,
and health care providers. The Network's site also offers a link
to disaster recovery resources from SAMHSA's Center for Substance
Abuse Treatment.
These and other NCTSN resources are being put to good use. Psychological
First Aid materials are now in the hands of state disaster
coordinators, Red Cross volunteers, school officials, first responders,
and others, said Dr. Brymer. Schools are already adapting the materials
for use with schoolchildren, and Network members hope to have an
official Network adaptation early in 2006.
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Other Aid
![photo of Katrina survivors at the Houston Astrodome in the early days after the storm](images/article6c.jpg) |
More photos
by Andrea Booher, FEMA
|
NCTSN also offers resources for parents. "Supporting children's
caregivers is important," said SAMHSA Senior Advisor on Children
Sybil Goldman, M.S.W. "Parents, too, are suffering from trauma."
Other resources target educators and relief workers. Some materials
are available in Spanish and Vietnamese.
In addition to the printed resources offered by the
Network, SAMHSA offers many other publications relevant
to children, such as Psychosocial Issues for Children
and Families in Disasters: A Guide for the Primary Care
Physician. This manual and other materials are available
at SAMHSA's special Web page created in response to the
hurricanes, "Empowering Recovery," at www.samhsa.gov/Disaster/professional_
disaster.aspx.
The Network has also been participating in trainings for school
principals and teachers. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education,
these trainings explain how school personnel can help children recover
from the trauma of the hurricanes and help those who were evacuated
adapt to their new schools.
SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie, M.A., A.C.S.W., and Ms.
Goldman are involved, sharing information about SAMHSA's role and
resources. So far, trainings have taken place in Jackson, MS; Mobile,
AL; Houston, TX; Atlanta, GA; and Pensacola, FL.
For more information about the National Child Traumatic Stress
Network, visit www.nctsnet.org.
Also visit SAMHSA's Web site at www.samhsa.gov. ![End of Article](images/articleend.gif)
« See Part 1: Hurricane Recovery
« See Part 2: Hurricane Recovery
« See Administrator's Message
« See First-Person Accounts
« See Resources
See
Also-Methadone, Buprenorphine »
See
Also-Estimates of Substance Use in Affected States »
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