Advocates Grade SAMHSA's Post-Hurricane Efforts

A year after Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the Gulf Coast, mental health advocates have many good things to say about the short-term mental health response by federal health officials. They are, however, still waiting for plans and funding for a long-term response.

In the wake of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, officials with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) stated that their goal was to ensure the ready availability of mental health and substance abuse assessments and crisis counseling for residents and evacuees of areas impacted by the storms.

Thanks to nearly $110 million in SAMHSA grants to support mental health services for hurricane victims, federal officials maintain that an unprecedented level of federal assistance was provided for recovery from psychiatric trauma.

“Most survivors of Katrina, Rita, and Wilma are demonstrating remarkable resiliency and are rebuilding their lives,” said Assistant Surgeon General Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H., acting deputy administrator of SAMHSA, in a press release describing the grants.

Additional SAMHSA goals included creating a longer-term plan to address posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among hurricane survivors and ensuring that Gulf Coast residents with “serious mental illnesses and/or addictive disorders and children with serious emotional disturbances continue to receive ongoing treatment for their chronic disorders,” according to an agency statement.

Critics said that the agency was much less successful with these larger goals.

The agency's response to the hurricanes included making the SAMHSA Emergency Response Grants (SERG) available. These grants fund crisis mental health and substance abuse services when local resources are overwhelmed and other resources are unavailable. SAMHSA describes SERG as “funding of last resort,” because it was traditionally provided in rare emergency situations. These funds went to areas that the impacted states determined to be the areas of highest need and were allocated for clinical services including methadone treatment.

Another source of funds for the cash-strapped region was the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Crisis Counseling Grants and Crisis Counseling Training and assistance Program, which fund mental health assistance and training activities in federal disaster areas. The funds were available to states and Indian tribes. SAMHSA conducted 91,000 counseling sessions, according to agency officials, and referred 700 people to mental health, substance abuse, and social services.