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Essentials of Church Disaster Preparedness and Response

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Title: Essentials of Church Disaster Preparedness and Response


1
Essentials of Church Disaster Preparedness and
Response
  • Jamie D. Aten, Sharon Topping,
  • Ryan Denney
  • University of Southern Mississippi

2
Support Provided by
  • The Church Disaster Mental Health Project is
    funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts
    and Rand Gulf States Policy Institute.
  • This research was funded by the Department of
    Health and Human Services' Office of Minority
    Health through a grant from the University of
    Mississippi Medical Center's Mississippi
    Institute for Improvement of Geographic Minority
    Health whose quest is to eliminate health
    disparities.
  • The Clergy/Mental Health Partnership is funded
    by the Red Cross Resilency Fund and Foundation
    for the MidSouth in collaboration with the
    Interfaith Disaster Task Force.
  • The Clergy Disaster Response Network is funded
    by the United Jewish Communities Foundation in
    collaboration with the Interfaith Disaster Task
    Force.
  • The findings, opinions and recommendations
    expressed therein are those of the author and not
    necessarily those of the funding agencies.

3
Introduction to Faith Communities and Disasters
  • Integral to spiritual, sociopolitical, economic,
    and psychological disaster recovery
  • Are often used as a source of coping during
    distressful times
  • Can offer meaning, resources, hope, and emotional
    support after a disaster
  • Clergy report being overwhelmed by needs
    following disasters
  • Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina

4
Purpose
  • The purpose of this seminar presentation is to
    help prepare mental health professionals to
    collaborate with clergy and church leaders to
    equip churches and faith communities for
    disasters.

5
Disaster Response Phases
(Adapted from Zunin/Meyers)
6
Equipping Churches for Disaster Preparedness
Response
  • How to get started
  • Identify a local disaster response coordinator
    from your congregation
  • Develop a disaster ministry leadership team
  • Complete preparedness and response inventories
    and plans
  • Begin educating and equipping volunteers

7
Church Disaster Preparedness
  • Identify assumptions about disasters
  • Network with disaster agencies
  • Define church disaster mission
  • Obtain detailed building description
  • Inventory emergency supplies and safety measures
  • Create communication plan
  • Ensure appropriate evacuation plan
  • Encourage personal disaster planning
  • Identify vulnerable individuals and groups
  • Establish recovery/service continuity plan
  • Make plan for attending to community/neighborhood
  • Protect and insure properties
  • Consider seeking charity status/non-profit status

8
Disaster Preparedness for Church Members
  • Encourage congregation members to
  • Make a Go-Bag (see www.nyc.gov/oem)
  • Decide upon a post-disaster meeting place
  • Make special needs known
  • Develop a post-disaster communication plan
  • Obtain proper insurance
  • Set aside emergency fund
  • Create an evacuation plan
  • Create a family disaster preparedness plan

9
Family Disaster Preparedness Planning
  • Sample components
  • Essentials (e.g., battery-operated radio,
    flashlight)
  • Water (3 gallon per person minimum plus water for
    sanitation)
  • Three-day supply of non-perishable food
  • First Aid Kit
  • Non-prescription and prescription drugs
  • Tools and supplies (paper to chainsaw)
  • Sanitation supplies
  • Clothing (e.g., rain gear) and sleeping bag
  • Baby supplies if needed (e.g., formula, diapers)
  • Important family documents
  • Entertainment (e.g., books or toys for children)

10
Church Evacuation Planning
  • Identify emergency exits and procedures
  • Post contact information for emergency numbers
    and contact persons
  • Identify at least two alternate locations for
    services (one in and one out of your
    neighborhood)
  • Use church communication structures to convey
    evacuations (e.g., prayer chain)
  • Inform your congregation and community about your
    evacuation plan (make it visible)

11
Church Continuity of Operations Planning
  • Conduct a risk assessment (e.g., What are the
    churches vulnerabilities?)
  • Plan for utility disruptions
  • Know what staff, materials, and equipment are
    essential to maintain operations
  • Identify church programs and outreach ministries
    that could be utilized after disasters
  • Prioritize post-disaster programs
  • Take inventory of losses post-disaster
  • Consider applying for post-disaster grants

12
Possible Post-Disaster Church Roles
  • Help community make meaning of their disaster
    experience
  • Provide advocacy (e.g., People before Ports)
  • Case management services
  • Raise awareness about disaster mental health
  • Participate in rebuilding housing projects
  • Provide emotional support and pastoral care
  • Become liaison and referral source
  • Use church facilities as a resource center

13
Possible Post-Disaster Church Facilities Uses
  • Bulk distribution center (e.g., food, clothing)
  • Child care center
  • Communication center
  • Information center (e.g., Health Fairs)
  • Shelter (pre-and-post disaster)
  • Gathering point
  • Volunteer headquarters
  • Food ministry (e.g., soup kitchen, meals on
    wheels, Angel food ministry)
  • Command center
  • Town hall meeting place
  • Social services center

14
Possibilities for Clergy-Mental Health
Professional Disaster Collaboration
  • Develop educational and outreach opportunities
  • Effects of disaster on mental health
  • Referral guidelines
  • Overcoming perceived stigma
  • You train the pastors, we train the
    congregation, and the congregation trains the
    community

15
Possibilities for Clergy-Mental Health
Professional Disaster Collaboration
  • Lead mental health assessments
  • Identification of disaster related mental health
    problems
  • Use focus groups of church leaders
  • Brief instruments for congregational assessments
  • To be honest, I dont even know what mental
    health needs existed in my church after Katrina
  • Was this psychological symptoms sort term? Was
    it going to be long term? It was hard to tell
    after Katrina.

16
Possibilities for Clergy-Mental Health
Professional Disaster Collaboration
  • Offer consultation activities
  • Pre-disaster planning
  • Post-disaster planning
  • Process of planning and content
  • If you dont have a plan, you dont have
    actions, and you know what that ends up looking
    likeit just aint good.

17
Possibilities for Clergy-Mental Health
Professional Disaster Collaboration
  • Provide clinically-focused services
  • Crisis counseling services post Katrina
    (short-term, solution focused one-on-one therapy)
  • Sensitive to spiritual multicultural issues
  • Knowledge of inpatient treatment programs
  • Is that person going to be okay I would think to
    myselfI just did the best I could, thats what
    we all did, thats what we had to doI know we
    had folks that needed like serious clinical
    care.

18
Possibilities for Clergy-Mental Health
Professional Disaster Collaboration
  • Provide spiritual resources and support system
    through the church
  • Church as referral source to meet spiritual needs
  • Church as a source of social support and outreach
  • Formalized partnership with mental health
    professionals to provide spiritual direction and
    pastoral care to members and those in need
  • You see this? pointing to a picture This
    elderly lady had nothing after Katrina, no one to
    help her, but our church not only built her a new
    house, we have a ministry of good folks that go
    and check on her every week, just to see how she
    is doing.

19
Examples of Church-Mental Health Disaster
Collaboration
  • Church Disaster Mental Health Project
  • Provides in-person disaster mental health
    training and outreach to clergy and churches
  • Offers consultation services to equip faith
    communities for disasters
  • Provides online disaster mental health training
    and resources (www.churchdisasterhelp.org)
  • Emphasis on reaching African American churches

20
Examples of Church-Mental Health Disaster
Collaboration
  • Clergy/Mental Health Partnership
  • Organizing Mental Health Summit with mental
    health, pastoral care, and mental health-pastoral
    care collaboration tracks
  • Networking religious leaders and mental health
    providers to facilitate appropriate
    bi-directional assessment, services, and referral
  • Providing mental health training for religious
    leaders and spiritual sensitivity training for
    mental health providers
  • Offering emotional support/resiliency programs
    for religious leaders

21
Examples of Church-Mental Health Disaster
Collaboration
  • Disaster Clergy Response Network
  • Providing disaster first responder training and
    creditial to clergy
  • Developing ethical codes, application process,
    and requirements for disaster clergy credential
  • Working with MS Departments of Mental Health and
    Health to integrate credentialed clergy into the
    state disaster response plan
  • Identifying regional coordinators and dispatch
    system

22
Conclusion
  • Successful disaster preparedness and response
    begins with planning
  • Mental health professionals have unique skills
    for helping churches respond to disasters
  • Additional training and research is needed around
    disaster collaboration issues
  • Questions and comments
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