Disaster Assistance for Victims: Mental Health Resources in California

This article provides information about mental health resources available for victims of disasters in California. It includes contact numbers for free assistance, federally funded programs, and disaster distress helpline available 24x7. The State offers counseling, therapy sessions, and other psychotherapy sessions to help survivors cope with the aftermath of disasters. The victims are provided support and resources to regain stability in life.

HSM435: Psychology of Disaster

I found the link to following three sites on the site http://www.ca.gov/.
 https://www.sonomacountyrecovers.org/mental-health-wellness/
 http://www.caloes.ca.gov/AccessFunctionalNeedsSite/Documents/Vulnerable
%20Populations.pdf
 https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/MH/Documents/California_HOPE_2016.pdf
I just typed “Disaster Assistance for Victims especially mental health” on the search bar and
found multiple sites related to federal resources, emergency assistance, crisis counseling, disaster
and mental health/behavioral health programs, mental health issues due to unemployment,
evacuation, helping survivors, etc. The government’s site is very user friendly. Within flip of a
second, I found out the above sites just by browsing on the search browser.
Sonoma County Recovers website
This site has contact numbers for free assistance for those impacted emotionally and mentally.
The programs are federally funded and can send counselors to meet the affected people at home,
school, etc to provide counseling for disaster recovery education. They have disaster distress
helpline available 24x7 which is toll free and multilingual that provides confidential crisis
support. Even the differently able can text on a special number. The victims can directly contact
at the numbers provided for counseling, therapy sessions or other psychotherapy sessions if they
are struggling in the aftermaths (Sonoma County Recovers, 2018).
Cal OES website
This site provides a guide for managers to meet the needs of vulnerable people in times of
disaster. The community based organization (CBO) has a network of neighborhood, team of
skilled people and all resources to identify the vulnerable and offer services according to their

needs like food, shelter, transportation, physical and mental health treatment, and counseling
(California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, 2000).
California HOPE website
Similarly California HOPE services provide all kinds of assistance to those affected by fires from
counseling to empowerment (California HOPE, 2018).
The resources offered by the State are extremely helpful to the victims as the disaster helpline
are dedicated to provide immediate services in times of crisis whether the disaster is human-
caused or naturally-caused. The mental health crisis services counsels the survivors to
understand their current situation, reduce stress, provide emotional and physical support and help
them to prioritize their needs and solve problem. They are provided support to choose coping
strategies and also help them to connect with people or agencies that can help them to reestablish
themselves. They provide support and resources so that with resilience training and tools for self
care the victims learn coping skills and regain stability in life.
References
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. (2000). Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable
People in Times of Disaster:A Guide for Emergency Managers. Retrieved from
Caloes.ca.gov:
http://www.caloes.ca.gov/AccessFunctionalNeedsSite/Documents/Vulnerable
%20Populations.pdf
California HOPE. (2018). California helping, outreach, possibilities, empowerment. Retrieved
September 28, 2018, from Californiahopenapa: https://www.californiahopenapa.com/

Sonoma County Recovers. (2018). Mental Health & Wellness. Retrieved from
Sonomacountyrecovers.org: https://www.sonomacountyrecovers.org/mental-health-
wellness/