The Louisiana Spirit Hurricane Recovery Program: Addressing the Needs of Children and Adolescents after Catastrophic Hurricanes

Aims: The Louisiana Spirit Hurricane Recovery Program was a statewide disaster mental health initiative implemented in response to the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Major components of the program included community-based culturally appropriate outreach strategies, risk screening and triage, and provision of Specialized Crisis Counseling Services (SCCS). The goal was to identify children and families at risk, and deliver services to address current needs and ongoing distress to prevent longer-term mental health problems. Methods: As the behavioral health needs of special populations, including minorities, and children and adolescents often go unmet, the Louisiana Spirit Program addressed this by placing teams of mental health professionals directly in the severely affected communities. The SCCS program also developed and implemented risk screening and referral procedures using the Child and Adolescent Assessment and Risk Screening Form, and delivered services using an evidence-informed intervention, Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR). Results: This report describes the screening and assessment findings for 818 children and adolescents. The majority identified themselves as black (77%), 20% as white, and 10% other. The mean age was eleven years. Findings indicated that 68% were displaced; 57% had been evacuated; and 59% had been transferred to a new school. The majority continued to express worry over the future and about something else bad happening. More than one-third were having a harder time getting along with family and friends, having trouble concentrating, feeling irritable, and feeling depressed. Follow-up data for those receiving SCCS services indicated that a significantly greater proportion of children met the criterion for specialized services at their first visit as compared with the last, with a significant decrease overall in the severity of reactions and symptoms. Conclusion: The Louisiana Spirit SCCS Program provides a disaster recovery model of community-based outreach, risk screening, and provision of services for children and families. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has adopted the risk screening form and the SPR intervention for use within the Regular Services Crisis Counseling Assistance & Training Program after presidentially declared disasters in the United States