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Schools Not Sustaining Mental Health Aid to Children Displaced by Hurricane Katrina |
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From RAND: Despite strong initial efforts to support the mental health needs of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many schools have not been able to fulfill students' mental health needs over the long term, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today. Researchers from RAND Health found that schools in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas were quick to implement a comprehensive approach to assisting students immediately after the storms, enrolling displaced students, getting them books and uniforms, and providing other services, such as one-on-one counseling. However, within six months of the storms, some schools determined there was no need for those additional services and returned to an emphasis on academics. Other schools felt there was a need for additional mental health services, but either did not have the funding or the properly trained staff, according to the study published in the October issue of Psychiatric Services. Burnout among staff in charge of implementing and running the programs, because many staff members also were affected by the hurricanes. More than 196,000 students from kindergarten through grade 12 were displaced in Louisiana alone after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005. Jaycox and her colleagues interviewed mental health professionals at 19 public and 11 private or parochial schools or school systems in Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi in the spring of 2006 and again in the fall/winter of 2006. "Education is the primary mission of schools, but schools also serve as a community hub in a disaster, doing everything from providing shelter to mental health services," Jaycox said.
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