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Federal Efforts Help States Prepare for and Respond to Psychological Consequences, but FEMA’s Crisis Counseling Program Needs Improvements
Title: Federal Efforts Help States Prepare for and Respond to Psychological Consequences, but FEMA’s Crisis Counseling Program Needs Improvements
Date:
February 2008
Author:
N/A
Institution:
Government Accountability Organization
Bibliographic Entry:
“Federal Efforts Help States Prepare for and Respond to Psychological Consequences, but FEMA’s Crisis Counseling Program Needs Improvements.” Government Accountability Office. Catastrophic Disasters. February 2008.
Electronic Link: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0822.pdf
Key Words:
strategic planning, natural disasters, mental health care services, emergency preparedness, emergency medical services, emergency management, disaster relief aid, disaster planning, data collection, Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program, substance abuse
Summary of Key Points, Issues, Conclusions:
In the event of catastrophic disasters, the federal government provides state funding for experienced psychological trauma. As a result, GAO examined (1) federal agencies' actions to help states prepare for the psychological consequences of catastrophic disasters and (2) states' experiences obtaining and using grants from the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) to respond to the psychological consequences of catastrophic disasters.
The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provided grants to mental health and substance abuse agencies in 35 states for disaster planning. The agency also identified several ways in which the plans could be improved. Other federal agencies--the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and DHS--have provided broader preparedness funding that states may use for mental health or substance abuse preparedness, but these agencies' data-reporting requirements do not produce information on the extent to which states used funds for this purpose. CCP, a key federal post-disaster response grant program to help states deliver crisis counseling services, is administered by FEMA in collaboration with SAMHSA. State officials said they had difficulty collecting information needed for their CCP applications and experienced lengthy application reviews. State officials also said they experienced problems implementing their CCPs. Other FEMA post-disaster response grant programs allow reimbursement for indirect costs. States also cited difficulties assisting people who needed more intensive crisis counseling services than those traditionally provided through state CCPs. FEMA and SAMHSA officials said they plan to consider options for adding other types of crisis counseling services to CCP, based in part on states' experiences with CCP pilot programs offering expanded crisis counseling services.
Recommendations from GAO include DHS and HHS revising CCP policy to allow reimbursement for indirect costs and to determine what kinds of crisis counseling services should be incorporated into CCP.
Name of Researcher:
Julie Curry
Institution:
Integrative Center for Homeland Security, Texas A&M University
Date Posted:
March 27, 2008