Federal grant funds disaster mental health preparation and response in rural communities
Dr. Loni Crumb
East Carolina University College of Education’s counselor education program has received a grant that will fund disaster mental health preparation and response in rural communities.
The project, named “Don’t Wait-Communicate: Disaster Mental Health Preparation and Response in Rural Schools and Communities” or “Project Don’t Wait” for short, is funded by a $998,990 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
“Our approach is to outfit these communities with additional mental health support, mental health clinicians in the schools and to provide workforce development training in the communities that church organizations, parents, families, first responders and other stakeholders can have access to, before as well as during these disasters,” said Dr. Loni Crumb, an assistant professor of counselor education at ECU and principal investigator on the grant. “We are taking a proactive rather than reactive approach to disaster training and preparedness.”
The idea behind the grant stemmed from ECU’s location in an area that sees numerous hurricanes and has neighboring counties that have received federal disaster declarations due to storms. Project Don’t Wait will work with three counties — Jones, Lenoir and Beaufort — to develop a school-community-university partnership.
According to Crumb, combining school and community-based interventions can help circumvent common mental health treatment barriers, such as transportation difficulties, time constraints, communication breakdowns, knowledge gaps and the stigma associated with seeking mental health services.
In addition to school-based mental health services and workforce development training, the Project Don’t Wait team will provide professional consultation services to community members, which is crucial in helping create communities that are adequately prepared for and capable of responding to disasters, Crumb said.
Although the proposal originally targeted hurricanes, the scope has now been broadened to include responses to pandemics. Mental health challenges follow any type of disaster or crisis and can include increased stress, anxiety, homelessness, substance abuse and domestic violence.
“One part of this grant that we are very grateful for is that it provides the ability to hire clinical staff to provide rural residents with access to more mental health professionals,” Crumb said. “We’re also hoping to find resources for housing as well. After natural disasters that have a big impact such as floods, housing insecurities are often an issue.”
The project began on April 30 and will last for 18 months. Crumb hopes to build sustainability through the grant’s duration so counties can continue the work.
Counselor education faculty members Drs. Janeé Avent Harris and Allison Crowe and Dr. Kristen Cuthrell, director of the Rural Education Institute, are working on the grant with Crumb.
“We are so excited for the opportunity to collaborate with rural communities in our region, to partner with so many amazing community stakeholders and do this work that is near and dear to our heart,” Avent Harris said.
REI will provide program evaluation services and assist in dissemination activities, such as the rural disaster mental health summit.
“From recent REI experiences, we know firsthand how targeted programming assists youths in developing healthy responses to traumatic stress that accrues from adverse events and environments,” Cuthrell said. “We are appreciative of the opportunity to partner with our rural schools and communities in expanding mental health supports for our children and families — especially in times such as these.”
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Contact: Dr. Loni Crumb, assistant professor of counselor education, College of Education, crumbl15@ecu.edu