Nebraska Disaster Recovery Schools 2020-21 - The Nebraska Disaster Recovery Schools 2020-21 Project will serve youth and families in 23 Nebraska counties with Individual Assistance Declarations under FEMA-4420-DR. Our overall strategy is to leverage and expand existing programs working with schools to identify and serve students with behavioral health needs and their families, including those experiencing impacts due to severe flooding in 2019.
Interventions: Behavioral health treatment providers will deliver direct therapeutic interventions in schools. Schools will be informed when and how to access the Nebraska Youth Mobile Crisis Response (YMCR), a free resource with therapists available 24/7 on-site or through video consultation. Trained in-school teams and Emotional/Behavioral Navigators will provide referrals to mental health services. Workforce development will include Youth Mental Health First Aid training of trainers, training in Mindful Schools K-12 Facilitation, and the School Community Intervention & Prevention (SCIP) annual conference. Crisis Counselors will work to foster community relationships and knowledge of disaster recovery processes, and to link school-aged youth and their families impacted by the disaster to community resources.
Goals & Objectives: We anticipate providing 582 students with direct therapeutic interventions (382 in year 1, and 200 in the 6 months of year 2); and 3000 families and other community members (2000 in year 1 and 1000 in the six months of year 2) through direct crisis counseling contacts in the community. Goal 1: School staff are able to recognize signs of mental illness and substance use and respond with immediate support and assistance. Objective 1.1: By September 1, 2020, hold Youth Mental Health First Aid Training of Trainers. Objective 1.2: By September 2021, hold an a minimum of 12 trainings (average of one per month after training-of-trainers) in Youth Mental Health First Aid across disaster-impacted counties (some trainings will involve multiple counties). Goal 2: New schools commit to the SCIP Program. Objective 2.1: By September 2021, eight new schools in the disaster area will have implemented, or will have committed to implementing, SCIP. Goal 3: School personnel have the skills to recognize disaster-related impacts on children in order to provide appropriate referrals and follow-up. Objective 3.1: Provide training in disaster reactions and recovery at SCIP annual training in Summer 2020. Objective 3.2: By January 2021, provide training stipends for school personnel in 60 schools to attend Mindful Schools Facilitator Training. Goal 4: Increase capacity to provide therapeutic interventions in schools. Objective 4.1: By August 2020, establish contracts with treatment providers. Objective 4.2: By September 2021, provide all school districts in catchment area with information and resources on YMCR. Goal 5: Increase communities' ability to understand disaster reactions and recovery. Objective 5.1: Region Disaster Crisis Counselors provide education and information through 3,000 outreach contacts (one-on-one education, individual crisis counseling, group counseling, public presentations).
