The Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board extends our full support to the Fairfax-Falls Church community and DMV area as we continue to feel the devastating impacts of the recent plane crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Below is a collection of resources focused on general behavioral health needs after a traumatic incident, including resources for children, youth, caregivers and first responders.

If you are suffering, you are not alone. It is important to reach out for help in challenging times. Friends, family, or trained specialists and counselors are available to help and offer support.

General Resources for Support after Traumatic Events

• Tips for Survivors: Coping With Grief After a Disaster or Traumatic Event

  In this tip sheet, SAMHSA defines and describes grief, discusses ways of coping with grief, and explains complicated or traumatic grief. The tip sheet also offers relevant resources for additional support.

• Tips for Survivors of a Disaster or Other Traumatic Event: Managing Stress

  This SAMHSA tip sheet gives stress prevention and management tips for dealing with the effects of a disaster or trauma. It identifies common reactions to disasters and other traumatic events, lists tips to manage and lower stress, and highlights signs of the need for professional support.

  This tip sheet is also available in Spanish.

• Tips for Survivors of a Disaster or Traumatic Event: What To Expect in Your Personal, Family, Work, and Financial Life

  In this tip sheet, SAMHSA describes the effects that disasters and other traumatic events can have on survivors in general, and specifically on different parts of their lives. The tip sheet suggests steps to cope with a disaster or other trauma, lists signs of the need for professional mental health and substance use assistance, and identifies resources for additional information and support.

  This tip sheet is also available in Spanish.

• Be Red Cross Ready: Taking Care of Your Emotional Health after a Disaster

  This fact sheet from the American Red Cross lists common reactions to a disaster, identifies ways for survivors to cope effectively, and highlights signs of the need for additional mental health support.

  The American Red Cross also offers this fact sheet in a large-print edition as well as in several languages other than English: Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Resources for Children, Youth, Parents and Other Caregivers, and Schools

• SAMHSA DBHIS Resources Intended for Children and Youth and About Children and Youth and Disasters

  Two sections of the SAMHSA Disaster Behavioral Health Information Series (DBHIS) resource collection focus on the common responses and needs children and adolescents may have during and after disasters. These sections include resources that highlight the unique needs of children and adolescents in and after disasters, as well as how adults who work with children, and parents and other caregivers, can offer support to children and adolescents in coping.

• Tips for Talking With and Helping Children and Youth Cope After a Disaster or Traumatic Event: A Guide for Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers

  This SAMHSA tip sheet can help parents, other caregivers, and teachers recognize and address problems in children and teens affected by a disaster. The tip sheet describes reactions that are common in young survivors at different ages, as well as how to help children cope with these reactions.

  This tip sheet is also available in Spanish.

• Age-related Reactions to a Traumatic Event

  In this fact sheet, NCTSN provides an overview of how children and adolescents may react to a traumatic event, including a natural or human-caused disaster that they experience as traumatic. This resource describes reactions typical within specific age ranges and offers tips for families, doctors, and school personnel to help children and adolescents cope.

  The information in the fact sheet is provided in a video in American Sign Language. The fact sheet is also available in several languages other than English: Dari, German, Japanese, Pashto, Russian, and Ukrainian.

• Helping School-Age Children with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers

  After children lose someone they love in a disaster or other event, they may go through traumatic grief, particularly if the death was sudden or frightening. In this tip sheet, NCTSN explains how school-age children may experience traumatic grief and suggests ways for parents and other caregivers to support them in moving through and coping with this type of grief.

• Helping Teens with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers

  This NCTSN tip sheet explains how teens may experience traumatic grief, a type of grief that people may go through after a death that occurs as part of a disaster or other sudden or violent event. The tip sheet describes 10 ways that teens may feel, behave, and express themselves as they go through traumatic grief. For each reaction, it suggests ways for parents and other caregivers to offer support.

  This tip sheet is also available in Spanish, Russian, and Ukrainian.

Resources for Disaster Responders and First Responders

• First Responders and Disaster Responders Resource Portal

  This part of the SAMHSA DTAC website notes the stressors that may be involved in work as a responder, identifies signs of stress, and offers coping tips. The page features links to tip sheets, online trainings, and other resources related to responder mental health and freedom from substance use issues and conditions.

• A Guide to Managing Stress for Disaster Responders and First Responders

  This SAMHSA guide is designed for first responders, public health workers, construction workers, transportation workers, utility workers, crisis counselors, and volunteers who respond to disasters and other crises. The guide provides information on how people experience stress; signs of extreme stress; and ways for organizations and individuals to manage and mitigate stress before, during, and after disaster response.

• Responder Safety and Health

  In this topical resource collection, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) provides a wealth of items for health care, public health, and emergency management professionals pertaining to safety, including mental health-related safety for responders. Part of the ASPR Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange resource, the collection features three sections about responder behavioral health and resilience.

Additional Resources for Acute Needs

• SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline

  The SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH) provides free, confidential crisis counseling and support to people in distress due to natural and human-caused disasters. The DDH is available 24/7, on all days of the year, via talk or text to 1–800–985–5990. The line also offers support in Spanish (people who call or text should press 2 for this option) and more than 100 additional languages. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can text or call the DDH at 1–800–985–5990 using their preferred relay provider.

  This resource is also available in Spanish. Other DDH information is available in 30 commonly spoken languages.

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

  The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a source of support available 24/7 to people in crisis, including people experiencing challenging reactions to disasters. Call 988 for support in English or Spanish.

  The 988 website is also available in Spanish.

To Access CSB Services

• For CSB Non-Emergency Behavioral Health Services, call CSB Entry & Referral at 703-383-8500 TTY 771, Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You may also walk-in at the Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Friday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

• For emergency mental health or substance use services, walk-in services are available 24/7 at the Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health or call 703-573-5679 TTY 711.

• If you or someone you know is experiencing a substance use crisis, call the Fairfax Detoxification Center 24/7 at 703-502-7000, TTY 703-322-9080.

• If someone with a developmental disability is experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis, call REACH, a 24/7 regional crisis stabilization and crisis prevention service for children, youth and adults with developmental disabilities, at 855-897-8278.