Spotlight

Crisis response resources that schools can use to help students and their families recover from Hurricane Sandy:

• Office of Emergency Management Disaster Mental Health Support Call Center: (347) 396-7952
• 1 (800) LIFENET: Toll-free and confidential mental health information and referral line with access to Mobile Crisis Team. Staffed by trained social workers 24 hours, 7 days per week, 365 days per year
• HITE is a free online resource directory for mental health services and other community resources. Click Social Services, then enter address for services in your neighborhood
• Helping Your Child Cope with a Traumatic Event: Guide for Parents
• Sesame Street Hurricane Toolkit - Hurricanes, storms, and other natural disasters can be difficult for young children who may not fully understand what's going on around them. These tips, activities, and videos can help them feel safe, cope with emotions, and understand that there is hope for the future.
• Hurricane Resources from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
• Prepare Today Cope Better Tomorrow, Stress During Disasters: A guide for reducing stress during disasters
• Coping with Disasters
• After the Hurricane: Helping Young Children Heal
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Guidance for Staff: Support students who are suffering from loss or grief
• Tips for Administrators, Counselors and Teachers
• Talking to Children about Hurricane Sandy - Guidance for Teachers
• Crisis Resources to Help Students & Families (Downloadable list of resources)

• Crisis Intervention Overview 2012-2013 School Year
• Crisis Response & Recovery Protocols for Networks and Schools - Includes the Networks and Schools role in preparing school communities for a crisis and Crisis Response Checklist
• Sample Notification Letter to Parents
• Sample Scripts for Students and Staff Notification
• Guidelines to Safe Room
• NYC Children’s Services, Borough Based
• Mental Health & Social Services for NYC Youth

• National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Self Care for Educators
• JBFCS, Trauma and Loss Bibliography
• Helping Your Child Cope with a Traumatic Event: Guide for Parents

• http://www.disasterassistance.gov/ provides the support resources below which are designed specifically for children, from those promoting mental health to ensuring children stay enrolled in school even if they have evacuated to a new school.
• Tips for Talking to Children After a Disaster: A Guide for Parents and Teachers - provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, this brochure discusses talking to preschool, early childhood, and adolescent children about the aftermath of a natural or man-made disaster.
• Helping Children Cope with Disaster - produced by FEMA and the Red Cross and provided by Federal Citizen Information Center, this fact sheet discusses a child's reaction to disaster by age.
• After the Storm: Information for Parents on How Schools Can Help After Disasters -Children do not lose their right to attend school when a disaster strikes. The National Center for Homeless Education has prepared a brochure about how to enroll in school even if you don't have any paperwork and have been displaced due to a disaster.
• The American School Counselor Association has gathered a number of resources to help you work with students during this time. Perhaps most important to keep in mind, are these tips for helping children in terms of crisis and stress:
  • Try and keep routines as normal as possible. Kids gain security from the predictability of routine, including attending school.
  • Limit exposure to television and the news. Be honest with kids and share with them as much information as they are developmentally able to handle.
  • Listen to kids' fears and concerns.
  • Reassure kids that the world is a good place to be, but sometimes bad things happen.
  • Parents and adults need to first deal with and assess their own responses to crisis and stress.
  • Rebuild and reaffirm attachments and relationships.

• Tips for Dealing with Grief of a Student or Staff
• Traumatic Grief Reading List - New York Life Foundation Bereavement Guide - After a Loved One Dies
• Crisis Management Institute (CMI) Activities for Processing Loss or Grief
• Relaxation Training Using Imagery for Children
• Bereavement Support: Guidance from Calvary Hospital
• Grief Counseling Resource Guide: A Field Manual. This manual has been developed as a guide for those who encounter individuals reaching to trauma related grief reactions in the course of their outreach work.
• Navigating Children's Grief
• New York Life Foundation: (FREE) Resources for Grieving Children & Families; Bereavement Camps for Grieving Children (Camp Erin services ages 6-17, Comfort Zone Camp Services ages 7-17).

• Fund for Public Schools: Chancellor's Bereavement Request Form
• Human Resources Administration: Burial Claims Application Process
• Reimbursement for medical expenses from NYC