The Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) announced Thursday that west county schools received a $1 million federal grant for students who are experiencing trauma related to numerous recent natural disasters.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHA) grant was awarded to SCOE in partnership with Drexel University and the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and will provide training, certification and consultation services to the Monte Rio, Guerneville, Forestville, Harmony, Fort Ross, Oak Grove, Sebastopol, Twin Hills and West Sonoma County Union High School districts.
“When traumatic events happen in our community, in which everyone is experiencing distress, this grant will provide tools to more quickly understand who might be experiencing stress. We know based on research that when a young person experiences a traumatic event, such as the flood of 2019 and fires, if they quickly receive counseling and intervention, it prevents mental health issues later on in life,” said Mandy Corbin, SCOE’s assistant superintendent of special education and behavioral health services, in a statement.
According to SCOE’s announcement, the grant will provide:
- Systematic screening of all children for disaster-related risk
- Assess high risk children for trauma-related symptoms
- Provision of 4-sessions of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) resilience skills to children with trauma symptoms and their parents/caregivers
- Provision of full TF-CBT model to all children and their parents/caregivers who do not respond to resiliency skills alone.
The county’s office of education pursued the grants following the 2019 floods, which had the greatest impact on west county, and after the 2019 Kincade Fire. Students impacted by the events will receive mental health services that are informed by training provided by the grant.
“These disasters collectively have caused, and continue to cause, tremendous mental health problems among affected children. Trauma-related responses have included an increase in symptoms related to anxiety disorders, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),” states the SCOE announcement. “While the grant is specific to West County, SCOE will also provide professional development and crisis support to counselors in districts around Sonoma County.”
