Mental Health Support Volunteers Needed for Wildfire Victims

The wildfire currently raging in Butte County has created a tremendous need for mental health support for all the victims of the wildfires, and especially students and school staff. Butte County’s resources are stretched thin, and they are in need of support. Butte County students and staff are scheduled to return to school on December 3, 2018.

In anticipation of the return of their students and staff, they are organizing licensed or credentialed volunteer mental health providers to create an extra layer of support in their schools, especially the week of December 3rd, and possibly longer term as needed.

Due to the nature of the emergency, they are currently seeking volunteer mental health providers who are licensed and credentialed to work with children and youth on school sites, employed in good standing, and who can be on standby and ready to deploy to school sites as needed.

They have planned layers of training and support next week as staff return to school. Once they know for certain how many people are needed and where to support students and staff, they will email confirmation to volunteers. Volunteers will be briefed and assigned according to what district staff believes they will need based on numbers of new enrollees, and the impact of the Camp Fire to their current students and staff, with the intent to debrief daily and fade support.

They want to make sure to get this effort right, and that they follow administrator and school leads. They are asking to know how many days that week any volunteers believe they can give so that they can assign in such a way that those who can spend more time can be assigned where the need is greatest.

If you are or know of supported providers who are interested, please send their names as well as all of the other information included in this table below. They are especially looking for Spanish and Hmong speaking providers as well. As well as providers who have experience supporting young children (0-5 yrs) and their families.

Name:

Title:

Licence/Credential:

Agency:

Phone:

Email:

Language(s) – Spanish and Hmong needed:

Days in the week of 12/3 able to volunteer:

Given the urgency, please send the names to chiefdeputyoffice@cde.ca.gov as soon as possible. 

For more information, please contact:

Jacquelyn Ollison, Education Administrator Office of Chief Deputy

(916) 319-0255 or jollison@cde.ca.gov