RecoveryEmergency Management for Schools trainingFebruary 23, 2007, Philadelphia, PA

Alex JamesDirector, Office of School Facilities South Carolina Department of Education

Marleen WongDirector, Crisis Counseling and Intervention ServicesLos Angeles Unified School District, CA

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools400 Maryland Avenue, SW / Washington, DC 20202

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Overview of Session

• Identify key messages • Define the Recovery phase• Identify key components of Recovery:

• Physical aspects• Business/fiscal elements• Academic structure• Emotional/mental health

• Discuss how to prepare for Recovery in advance

• Review key "Issues/Debates" in Recovery• Discuss Recovery scenario• Questions?

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Key Messages• The Recovery Phase is designed to assist

students, staff, and their families in the healing process and to restore educational operations in schools

• The Recovery Phase is planning for common events; planning for uncommon events

• The Recovery Phase is an ongoing process that is directly linked to the other three phases of crisis planning

• Strong community partnerships are key to supporting Recovery efforts for schools

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Phases of Emergency Management

Recovery

Prevention-Mitigation Preparedness

Response

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What is the Recovery Phase?

• The Recovery phase is designed to assist students and staff in the healing process and to restore educational operations in schools• Recovery can be a long-term process• Planning for Recovery begins in the Prevention-

Mitigation phase• Providing for Recovery efforts requires leadership

and buy-in from the top• There is a direct link between emotional stress and

academic achievement

GOAL: Restore a safe and healthy learning environment

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Types of School/District Events

• Student deaths• Staff deaths• Accidents (students hit by cars, bus

accidents, car accidents, swimming, etc.)

• Violence in schools or community (assaults, murders, drive-by shooting in community, etc.)

• Suicides • Natural disasters (tornado,

earthquake, wildfire, hurricane, etc.)• School shootings

Prob

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Preparing in Advance for Recovery: Introduction

• Planning and policies

• Partners and resources

• Training

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Preparing in Advance for Recovery: Policies and

Planning• Planning in advance of an event:

• Outline service delivery systems

• Develop template letters for emergencies

• Pre-determine strategies for accepting contributions/donations following a death/incident

• Outline strategies for dealing with "empty chairs"

• Determine a policy for memorials (be consistent across events)

• Ensure a process is in place for parental consent

• Compile resource kits

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Preparing in Advance for Recovery: Policies and

Planning• Consider the structures and departments• Coordinate with district departments

• Safety and security, facility management, risk management, budget office, transportation, food services, technology services, etc.

• Develop and practice a continuity of operations plan (COOP) at district and school levels

• Create Damage Assessment Response Teams (DART)• Assemble Crisis Response Teams:

• District teams• School-based teams

• Define procedures for crisis recovery• Coordinate with outside community partners and

agencies

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Preparing in Advance for Recovery: Partners and

Resources• Before an event occurs, schools should:• Consider expertise available for mental health service

provision at the: School level District level Community level

• Outline partnership agreements with relevant local partners detailing support available

• Identify a school/district employee to coordinate partnerships with the community - a liaison officer

• Identify and train crisis response team members• Develop a process for screening and registering

volunteers• Develop a process for inventorying and distributing

district and donated supplies

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Preparing in Advance for Recovery: Training

• To ensure that appropriate training is conducted for Recovery, schools should proactively:• Identify and train appropriate staff to provide

developmentally and culturally appropriate services Train mental health staff on specific interventions

Provide basic training on available resources and common reactions to trauma for all staff (including administrators)

Provide specific information to all staff regarding the school's referral system (e.g., inform teachers about who students can go to for support, and the referral systems available)

Train teachers/staff on early warning signs

Train teachers/staff on how to work with parents/guardians

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Recovery: Key Components

• Physical/Structural Recovery• Business/Fiscal Recovery• Academic Recovery• Psychological/Emotional Recovery

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Physical/Structural Recovery

Purpose: To restore facilities necessary to

enable educational operations

Key components:• Assess physical/structural component

• (e.g., damage assessment response team)• Ensure human safety at educational sites

and staff availability to teach• Resume transportation and food services• Determine availability of equipment and

supplies (books)• Debrief and incorporate lessons learned into

emergency management planning

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Business/Fiscal RecoveryPurpose: To restore critical business functions within the school/district as soon as possible

Key Components:• Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and/or Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP):

• Restore district administrative functions

• Ensure staff are supported

• Set-up payroll system

• Institute a system for registering out of district students, and for registering students into other schools

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Business/Fiscal Recovery

Key Components, continued:

• Identify, in advance, who has responsibility for closing schools, or sending students/staff to alternate locations

• Identify who is responsible for restoring which business functions for schools/districts

• Identify succession plans

• Ensure systems are in place for rapid contract execution in the event of an emergency

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Academic Recovery

Purpose: To facilitate students' return to learning; restore structure and routine

Key Components:• Short-term considerations

• Quick decision making regarding school/academic routines

• Brief administrators and staff• Communicate with parents/guardians on events and

the plan• Academic success and Recovery are linked

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Academic Recovery

Key Components, continued:

• In general, maintaining the school routine is helpful• Can the school remain open?• Can the school routine be maintained? Modified?• Are academic materials needed?

• Traumatized students may:• Engage in uncharacteristically aggressive behavior• Have difficulty concentrating and learning

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Academic Recovery

• Youth exposed to violence and trauma have been shown to have:• Lower grade point averages

(Hurt et al., 2001)• Decreased reading ability

(Delaney-Black et al., 2003)*• More negative remarks in their

cumulative records• More reported absences from school

(Hurt et al., 2001)• Increased expulsions and suspensions (LAUSD

survey)• Decreased rates of high school graduation

(Grogger,1997)*Source: Delaney-Black, V., Covington, C., Ondersma, S.J., Nordstrom-Klee, B., Templin, T., Ager, J., Janisse, J., & Sokol, R.J. (2002). Violence exposure, trauma, and IQ and/or reading deficits among

urban children. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 156 (3), 280-285.

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery

Purpose: To promote coping and resiliency for students,staff, and their families following an emergency or crisis

Key components:• Available and acceptable services in the district

• Internal and external resources

• Short-term considerations

• Overview of mental health interventions• Psychoeducation

• Psychological first aid

• Intervention strategies & models

• Long-term considerations

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery:

Available and Acceptable Services• Support from leadership is critical:

• All planning involves the school Principal or their designee

• Some schools may be hesitant to bring in "outside" mental health support - think this through in advance

• Long-term services need support from the school board

• Familiarity with funding sources after disasters

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Internal and

External Resources• Consider local mental health resources• Develop a structure for support• "Outside" vs. "Inside" help

School District

Public Health

Law Enforcement

Public Safety

Emergency Management

Local Government

Mental Health

COMMUNITY

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Short-Term

• Identify circles of impact and provide triage

• Triage is the process of identifying the immediate needs of students and staff, and ensuring referral to appropriate services

• Provide psychoeducation for families, students, and staff

• Consider psychological first aid

• Consider utilization of services for staff through district Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

• Leverage union resources available for teacher support

• Be aware of impacts of possible trauma history

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Short-Term

• Traumatic stress is an acute distress response that is experienced after exposure to a catastrophic event

• Traumatic stress occurs because the event poses a serious threat to:

• The individual's life or physical integrity

• The life of a family member or close friend

• One's surrounding environment

• Individuals who have witnessed injury or death are also at risk to develop a trauma stress response

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Mental Health

Interventions• Promote coping and resiliency for students and staff and to assist with the healing process

• Increase students' (ability to stay in school) academic performance

• Provide a range of immediate and long-term interventions• Triage and assess immediate recovery needs of students

and staff • Make individual and group crisis counseling available

during the first week after a crisis event• Be aware of secondary adversities and make services

available as needed

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Mental Health

Interventions• Intervention strategies and models:

• Trauma and grief focused school-based mental health programs

Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS)

• Short-term individual, group, and family interventions

• Depression and suicide prevention

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Psychoeducation

• Provide for everyone in the school community

• Ensure that materials are developmentally and culturally sensitive

• Identify pathways for disseminating information to students, staff, and parents

• Create and support a coping environment for students and staff

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Psychological First

Aid• Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an evidence-informed modular approach for assisting children, adolescents, adults, and families in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism• PFA is designed to:

Reduce the initial distress Foster short- and long-term adaptive functioning

• PFA meets four basic standards: Is consistent with research evidence on risk and resilience

following trauma Is applicable and practical in field/school settings Is developmentally appropriate across the lifespan Is culturally informed and adaptable

Source: National Child Traumatic Stress Network and National Center for PTSD, Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide,

September, 2005

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Psychological First

Aid • PFA core actions

• Initiate contact and engagement

• Ensure safety and comfort

• Stabilize emotions

• Gather information on current needs and concerns

• Provide practical assistance

• Connect with social supports

• Provide information on coping

• Link with collaborative services

Source: National Child Traumatic Stress Network and National Center for PTSD, Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide,

September, 2005

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Psychological/Emotional Recovery: Long-Term• Conduct ongoing assessment/monitoring of

mental health of students and staff

• Monitor attendance, grades, and counselor's visits

• Provide care for caregivers (compassion fatigue)

• Incorporate lessons learned from each event into future planning efforts

• Remember to reinforce ongoing prevention programs

• Be aware of 'key dates,' such as trials, anniversaries, and holidays

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Key Issues for the Recovery Phase

Issue #1: Opening or closing schools after an

event occurs• Policy should be determined in advance

• Considerations:• How long should the school be closed?

• How can parents/guardians weigh in on decisions about school closures?

• Who has the ultimate decision-making power regarding school closure?

• How will the community be notified?

• Ultimate question - Will the children be better off in school, or out of school?

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Key Issues for the Recovery Phase

Issue #2: Memorials after a student or staff death

• Policy should be determined in advance• Considerations:

• Memorials can be controversial • Questions may arise about how/if policies

should vary depending on the type of death

• Memorials in schools can be considered a • suicide contagion• A date for removing memorial items• How memorials might reinforce ongoing prevention

programming (i.e., scholarship funds, etc.)

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Key Issues for the Recovery Phase

Issue #3: How to handle key dates• Policy should be determined in advance

• Considerations:• Be cognizant of anniversary dates but do not

dramatize them• Watch for reactions around holidays and/or

anniversaries• Prepare a constructive message for anniversaries• Make sure educators watch for risk behaviors

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Interactive Scenario

Interactive Scenario

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Scenario

• You're a member of the crisis response team at YOUR school.

• It's early morning.

• School has just begun for the day.

• One school bus is late arriving due to ice on the roads.

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Details of the Incident

• The bus has 26 students from the middle and high schools on board (ages 10 - 17).

• As the bus arrives, the driver is unable to stop the bus. The bus skids and then crashes through the wall of the music room. There are 25 students in the music room.

• Two students are killed and 19 students are injured - four of them severely.

• The bus driver was found to be intoxicated.

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What are the first five steps you would take

to activate your plan?

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Which students and staff are most at

risk?

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What types of services would facilitate the recovery process?

How would they be unfolded?

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Summary

• Recovery planning is a continual process.

• Schools need to plan for the emotional/mental health needs of students and staff, as well as for the physical, business, and academic Recovery of their campuses following an emergency or crisis event.

• Planning for Recovery involves establishing key community partnerships, developing policies, providing training, and developing memoranda of understanding (MOU).

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THANK YOUFor More Information Contact:

Alex James: ajames@ed.sc.gov

Marleen Wong: marleen.wong@lausd.net

ERCM TA Center: 888-991-3726 or info@ercm.org