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Center for Mental Health Services
Division of Prevention, Traumatic Stress, and Special Programs
Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch
Purpose | Service Population
Program Grants for States | Additional Funds | CMHS Role
What is the Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch?
The Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch is the office within the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) that is responsible for assessing, promoting, and enhancing the resilience of Americans in times of crisis. Through an interagency agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), this CMHS Branch supports immediate, short-term crisis counseling and ongoing support for the emotional recovery of victims of trauma and disasters. From earthquakes and fires in the West, to tornadoes and floods in the Midwest, to hurricanes in the East, disasters of various kinds command headlines almost weekly. Disasters, whether natural or terrorist-related, may result in human trauma that requires special attention. Following such events, the need for crisis counseling is just as important as the need to clean up debris and reconstruct property.
Who does the Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch serve?
The Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch serves the victims of Presidentially declared disasters, which include severe storms, forest fires, and incidents of mass criminal victimization. Grants are provided to States for counseling outreach in Presidentially declared disaster areas and for the training of crisis counselors to provide assistance after Federal relief workers leave the area. This program, called the Crisis Counseling Program, is funded by FEMA. On behalf of FEMA, the CMHS Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch provides technical assistance, program guidance, and oversight. The services most frequently funded by this program are outreach, crisis counseling, psycho-education, and referrals to appropriate agencies or mental health professionals.
The Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch also serves refugee populations under a program that provides mental health assessments, treatment, and consultations for refugees and torture survivors. The Branch also serves children and adolescents who have been exposed to trauma through its National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). The initiative is designed to raise the standard of care and improve access to treatment and services for children and adolescents exposed to a wide range of traumatic events, their families, and communities throughout the United States. Such events include witnessing or experiencing domestic violence, child abuse and maltreatment, natural and man-made disasters, traumatic loss of significant others, sexual abuse, medical trauma, accidents/fires, war, displacement, and refugee trauma. Under the leadership of a National Coordinating Center, Network members develop and implement effective interventions for diverse populations in different service sectors.
In addition, the Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch has partnerships with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Branch works with the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to advance the science to service agenda and promote evidence-based, high-quality crisis counseling services. The Branch collaborates with the Office for Victims of Crime, within the Department of Justice, to develop training materials for mental health professionals that focus on the psychosocial needs of crime victims.
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What does the Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch do for States?
After a Presidential disaster declaration, the affected State conducts a mental health needs assessment of the disaster area. State mental health authorities are responsible for assessing key indicators of disaster stress and determining which geographic, social, cultural, ethnic, and vulnerable populations should receive services. When existing State and local resources cannot meet the needs of those populations, the State Mental Health Authority may choose to apply for a crisis counseling grant from the CMHS Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch. Only a State or Federally recognized Indian Tribe can apply for a crisis counseling grant. States that receive these Federal grants typically distribute the funds to local mental health providers for the purpose of hiring additional staff to provide outreach and education on stress reactions and stress reduction.
In addition, the CMHS Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch collaborates with FEMA to train State mental health staff to develop crisis counseling training and preparedness plans in their States. The CMHS Branch sponsors an annual training for States to provide updates on the design and implementation of its crisis counseling projects and to promote State-to-State information exchange.
The CMHS Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch also works with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors to assist States and local communities in developing guidelines for their disaster mental health plans that are based on an "all hazards" approach. Ideally, this type of planning approach anticipates a wide variety of incidents, ranging from natural disasters to transportation accidents to bioterrorist incidents.
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Is other funding available for responding to trauma and disasters?
The CMHS Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch makes funding available to State Mental Health Authorities through two types of grants: (1) Immediate Services Program grants, which provide funds for up to 60 days of services immediately following the declaration of a disaster; and (2) Regular Services Program grants, which provide funds for up to 9 months following the declaration of a disaster. While the CMHS Branch provides some technical assistance to States that receive Immediate Services Program funds, FEMA has responsibility for the monitoring and distribution of funds. With regard to the Regular Services Program, the CMHS Branch is the designated monitoring authority, so FEMA transfers funds to the CMHS Branch, which, in turn, transfers the funds to States.
In addition to the Immediate and Regular Services Programs, the Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch provides supplementary funding for special circumstances. For example, those States most affected by the events of September 11, 2001, received additional assistance in the form of supplemental grants, as well as a grant program for public safety workers and their families.
The CMHS Emergency Mental Health and Traumatic Stress Services Branch also collaborates with SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention on a grant program to increase the ability of States to respond to emergency mental health and substance abuse needs. The purpose of this program is to better equip States to provide a coordinated response to mental health and substance abuse service needs in the aftermath of large-scale emergencies.
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CMHS also has numerous publications on working with, and supporting, disaster victims. All are available through SAMHSA's National Mental Health Information Center, by calling 1-800-789-2647; (TDD) 1-866-889-2647.
KEN 95-0011
10/03
Please note that this online publication has been abridged from the hardcopy.
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