COUC 604

Community Disaster and Referral Plan Assignment Instructions

Overview

The is a practical assignment designed to familiarize you with the scope, nature, and extent of crisis services available within your local community and to familiarize yourself to the importance of being able to employ a community in action in time of a crisis.

In developing this assignment, keep in mind this is a resource for you to use when serving clients in need of referrals to community resources, when responding to a community disaster, and to ensure you have a plan for self-care when responding to disasters. Upon completion of this assignment, you will have a reference for your personal use that is readily available and easily accessible.

Refer to the resources provided in the “Community Disaster and Referral Plan Resources” found in the assignment link in Canvas.

Instructions

Your paper will be formatted in 3 sections: Referral List, Disaster Plan, and Treatment Plan using current APA style (professional version) for the following sections:

· Title page with the name of location or service area (ex. Central Virginia Area, Nashville Area, etc.),

· Table of Contents (see “Online Writing Center sample and template papers” provided in the “Community Disaster and Referral Plan Resources” found in the assignment link in Canvas) and use Word Reference tab to develop your TOC (use Word Help feature, as needed),

· Three (3) level I APA section headings: Referral list; Disaster Plan; Treatment Plan,

· Reference page,

· An abstract is not required.

· Length: 10-11½ pages of body,

· Follow the template below to format your paper and each section. This is not a narrative paper since it is a resource guide. Please note, the template may reformat or view differently as part of the instructions document in Canvas. It is recommended that you download these instructions to Word to see the actual formatting.

Title page: format in current APA style per the Online Writing Center (found under the Resources tab in the upper left corner of Canvas) Template and Sample papers.

Table of Contents

· Format in current APA style per the Online Writing Center (found under the Resources tab in the upper left corner of Canvas) Template and Sample papers.

· Include the 3 main headings and the subcategories for your Referral List (ex. Bereavement, Counseling, Food, Shelters)

· Length: ¼ page

Referral List

Develop a list of referral sources for your community dealing with various types of crises that may be experienced by your community.

This plan will be a resource that you can use in your career. Include as many different types of referral categories to meet the needs across the life span. Examples include counseling, shelters, food pantries, support groups, free clinics, pregnancy centers, aging, mental illness, disabilities, career, etc. Make sure that this is original work and that you do not copy (plagiarize) but you do not need to cite each referral.

The referrals should be for your service location (current or future residence or service area). If you live in a rural area, expand your service area to include other surrounding counties in order for you to be able to meet the required resources.

Referral list and formatting:

· 50 referral sources (no more than 10 hotline/internet sources),

· Number the referrals continually 1–50,

· Format: single spaced,

· Categories

· Alphabetize the categories,

· Include these in the Table of Contents under the Referral List

· Use APA level 2 subheadings for each category (ex. Bereavement, Counseling, Food, Shelters),

· At minimum, include the following information:

· Name of service provider

· Phone number

· Address

· Summary of services – the summary must be stated in your own words and cannot be taken directly from the source.

· You do not need to cite and references the referrals

· Example:

Bereavement/Grief and Loss 

1. Name of service provider 

Phone number 

Address 

Summary of services: a brief statement (ex. Offers free bereavement counseling to children and adolescents.) 

 

2. Name of service provider 

Phone number 

Address 

Summary of services 

 

3. Name of service provider 

Phone number 

Address 

Summary of services 

· Helpful Hint:  Some states, such as Texas, have a state registry through the Texas Health and Human Services called 2-1-1 Texas identifying resources across the state. Check your state to see if there might be something similar. It is helpful to keep bookmarked on your computer for quick access with clients. The Texas 2-1-1 is included under the in the “Community Disaster and Referral Plan Resources” found in the assignment link in Canvas as an example.

· Length: 8½ -9 pages

Disaster Plan

This section will use the Disaster Mental Health Guidebook (Department of Veteren’s Affairs, n.d.) provided in the “Community Disaster and Referral Plan Resources” found in the assignment link in Canvas, identify the steps of deployment of the plan and the persons responsible. This should be a comprehensive list for your use when serving in crisis. Note: You will notice the Disaster Mental Health Guidebook uses the DSM-IV and not DSM-V. We must adhere to the current version, the DSM-V when considering diagnoses. 

Formatting

· List style format; this section is not to be a narrative paragraph. Keep in mind, listing should list key points and should not include sentences.

· Format chart as shown below for efficient use and reference when serving during crisis;

· APA formatting: For this section you must use the  Disaster Mental Health Guidebook. You do not need to cite each item in your list. Rather include the citation under the chart heading (see below).

· Correct spelling and grammar is required. 

· Length: ½-1 page

Content

For this section, you will become familiar with the Disaster Mental Health Guidebook and how to use its information when serving in crisis situations. During crisis we need to be able to access information quickly. To develop a quick reference disaster response resource you can use during a crisis, you will be organizing the information from the Disaster Mental Health Guidebook into a chart with readily accessible information as a strategic intervention plan.

The chart will focus on your role as an interventionist in five categories and the corresponding strategies and interventions. Under each category are page numbers to reference in the Disaster Mental Health Guidebook. From these pages, you will select key strategies, interventions, and resources for each category and present them in a listed format. Note: be sure to look at the page numbers in the guidebook rather than the toolbar as these will not reflect the same pages. Please copy-paste the chart below for your paper to use as a template.

Disaster Mental Health (MH) and Strategic Intervention Plan   [Cite source here in current APA style, and include in reference list.]
MH Response Strategies	MH Team/Helper/ Organizational Strategies & Interventions	Strategies for Interfacing Agencies	Strategies for Completing Crisis Debriefing	Strategies for Restoring Individual Pre-Crisis State
a. p. 5 (include applicable strategies) b. p. 8 (include applicable columns in chart and corresponding strategies) c. p. 36 d. p. 38-44	a. p. 5 (include applicable strategies) b. p. 8 (include applicable strategies) c. p. 37 d. p. 113-114 e. p. 132-133	a. p. 8 (include applicable strategies) b. p. 142	a. p. 5 (include applicable strategies) b. p. 45-66	a. p. 6 (include applicable strategies) b. p. 6 (include applicable columns in chart and corresponding strategies) c. p. 67-91

*Ensure content is comprehensive for each column. 

As a supplement to the Disaster Mental Health Guidebook, you will find a link to the ACA Trauma and Disaster Mental Health website in the “Community Disaster and Referral Plan Resources” found in the assignment link in Canvas. On this website is a section titled “ACA Disaster Mental Health Resources. Familiarity with the Disaster Mental Health Guidebook and the ACA Trauma and Disaster Mental Health website will offer valuable additions for your Referral List when serving in crises. It is recommended to save both of these resources, and this assignment to use when serving in crises.

Treatment Plan

When working in counseling and crisis, the mental health professional is held at high standard and maintaining proper self-care is crucial for our own mental health and wellbeing. The ACA Code of Ethics (2014) states that “counselors engage in self-care activities to maintain and promote their own emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing to best meet their professional responsibilities” (Introduction to Section C, Professional Responsibilities). After reading the Crisis Intervention: The Neurobiology of Crisis you will be required to develop a self-care treatment plan for yourself.

Formulate a treatment plan for yourself (first person required) covering the five prominent areas: spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, and social. Your treatment plan should indicate a well-balanced life style that will help prevent burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma that can develop working in crisis intervention. Use the insights you gleaned from reading Crisis Intervention: The Neurobiology of Crisis (Brooks, 2017) and the Disaster Mental Health Guidebook, pages 135-137, consider the significance of chronic stress and how it can affect your effectiveness as an interventionist.

Reminders:

· First person should be used since this is a treatment plan for yourself,

· Develop your treatment plan using the treatment planners found in the assignment link in Canvas: Klott & Jongsma (2015) and Kolski et al. (2015) as guides,

·