Pediatric Disaster Behavioral Health (PDBH) Toolkit

Social Work departments are vital partners in pediatric disaster behavioral health. They support psychosocial assessment, reunification plans, resource referrals, trauma-informed mental health support, providing guidance to parents and caregivers, and connection to long-term care.

• Core Responsibilities
  • Support reunification plans during or following emergency events, in alignment with facility and/or jurisdictional plans.
  • Conduct psychosocial assessments for impacted children and families.
  • Provide targeted resource referrals to meet family needs, including wrap-around services, in addition to referrals to long-term care.
• Disaster-Specific Readiness
  • Prepare to utilize Psychological First Aid to support children and families.
  •  Become familiar with disaster-related risk factors known for increasing risk of developing post-traumatic behavioral health concerns. A variety of tools are available, such as PsySTART²¹ , or the Acute Stress Checklist (ASC-Kids)²² which may be helpful for clinical evaluation. Please reference the Triage vs Screening vs Assessment in Disasters or Mass Casualty Incidents (MCIs) appendix for a review of these tools.
  • Maintain updated lists of local providers trained in evidence-based trauma interventions for children. See the SAMHSA's Disaster Behavioral Health Interventions Inventory for a potential list of interventions to consider.
  • Proactively build partnerships with community and faith-based organizations that provide services in the event of disasters. These groups are often organized into Community/Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (COADs/VOADs).
  • Keep quick-access caregiver handouts focused on pediatric disaster behavioral health guidance and supports.
  • Become familiar with potential and expected response and recovery roles. Consult your emergency management team and identify social work roles in protocols and plans related to family reunification, casework, and recovery.