Dear ABCD Families,
We hope that you and your family are safe during these challenging times. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by these devastating California wildfires.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has distributed resources that help families deal with difficult events, including natural disasters like the California wildfires. We are sharing these resources in hopes that they are helpful to you.
Resources in Response to the California Wildfires
- Parent Guidelines for Helping Children Impacted by Wildfires (En Español)
- Wildfires: Tips for Parents on Media Coverage (En Español)
- Simple Activities for Children and Adolescents
- Trinka and Sam: The Big Fire- e-book for young children. (En Español)
- Helping Youth After a Community Trauma: Tips for Educators (En Español)
- Talking to Children: When Scary Things Happen (En Español)
- Creating Supportive Environments: When Scary Things Happen (En Español)
- After a Crisis: Helping Young Children Heal (En Español)
- Age-Related Reactions to a Traumatic Event (En Español)
- Helping Teens with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers (En Español)
- Helping School-Age Children with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers
(En Español) - Helping Young Children with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers (En Español)
- Once I Was Very Very Scared (En Español)
– children’s book for young children - Pause-Reset-Nourish (PRN) to Promote Wellbeing (En Español)
(for responders)
Psychological First Aid and Skills for Psychological Recovery
The NCTSN also has resources for responders on Psychological First Aid (PFA; En Español). PFA is an early intervention to support children, adolescents, adults, and families impacted by these types of events. The PFA Wallet Card (En Español) provides a quick reminder of the core actions. The PFA online training (En Español) course is also available on the NCTSN Learning Center. PFA Handouts include:
- Parent Tips for Helping Infants and Toddlers (En Español)
- Parent Tips for Helping Preschoolers (En Español)
- Parent Tips for Helping School-Age Children (En Español)
- Parent Tips for Helping Adolescents (En Español)
- Tips for Adults (En Español)
Resources to Support Firefighters
The Center for Firefighter Behavioral Health has resources for firefighters, providers supporting them, and their friends and family, including the Helping Heroes web-based training.
Mobile Apps
- Help Kids Cope
- PFA Mobile
- SAMHSA Behavioral Health Disaster Response App
- Supporting Firefighter Families
- Bounce Back Now (En Español)
More helpful links
- Sustaining the Psychological Well-Being of Caregivers While Caring for
Disaster Victims - Safety, Recovery and Hope after Disaster: Helping Communities and
Families Recover - Leadership Communication: Anticipating and Responding to Stressful
Events - Wildfire Smoke Factsheet: Protecting Children from Wildfire Smoke
and Ash
Resources for After the Wildfire
Disaster Helpline
SAMHSA has a Disaster Distress Helpline – call or text 1-800-985-5990 (for Spanish, press “2”) to be connected to a trained counselor 24/7/365.
Please visit https://211la.org/ for resources including free Airbnb housing.
Special thanks to The Friends of the Semel Institute at UCLA for putting this list of resources together.