3. The Toolbox - Implementation & Tactical Resources

3.5. Example PDBH Response & Recovery Objectives

Document Purpose:

This document serves as a reference for potential Pediatric Disaster Behavioral Health (PDBH) objectives for response and recovery operations. It is not comprehensive and not all objectives will fit all communities and incidents.

How to use:

  • Refer to the overall PDBH Framework Goals, as shared below. These goals provide the context for all example objectives provided.
  • Consider how these objectives could be modified to meet the needs of your community for this particular incident. Where possible, convert to SMART objectives.
  • Reference the PDBH Operational Overview Table for detailed implementation guidance, tools, and resources to support each objective.
  • Throughout the incident:
    • Continually update service delivery plan(s) based on information shared from the PDBH Situational Awareness function.
    • Adjust to the changing environment and needs by preparing for expected transitions: Initial Response → Short-term Recovery → Long-term Recovery → New Steady State (end of response). See the Phase-Based section of this Toolkit for further information.

PDBH Framework Goals

PDBH Goal: Assess Impacts, Capacity, & Gaps

Identify, characterize, and assess both the behavioral health impacts of an incident and the capacity of a children’s hospital-led response to provide care – both initially and over time.

PDBH Goal: Right Supports, Right Time

Mitigate behavioral health impacts by providing the right level of support, at the right time, to both youth and responding personnel, and facilitate a transition to resilience for the community during recovery.

PDBH Goal: Educate Community, Inform Response

Provide education and facilitate a “behavioral health-informed response” by providing subject matter expertise and resources to the impacted community, response staff and leadership, and relevant response functions.

PDBH Goal: Coordinate, Internally & Externally

Coordinate a children’s hospital-led, behavioral health response and recovery activities across all engaged entities to develop a unified response for the impacted community, reduce duplication of services and unmet needs, and remove silos to improve access to behavioral health care and supports.

Example Response & Recovery Objectives

PDBH Situational Awareness:

  • Identify and characterize the expected pediatric disaster behavioral health (PDBH) impacts from the incident using PDBH Essential Elements of Information (EEIs).
  • Identify and characterize any expected impacts to existing pediatric behavioral health services capacity, including reduction in capacity from incident impacts in additional to capacity from any new disaster related services.
  • Identify and assess any gaps between estimated PDBH impacts and available services to meet those needs (gap assessment).
  • Throughout the incident:
    • Share this information with internal and external response partners, as appropriate. Tailor communications to the needs of each audience while considering potential access and language needs.
    • Continue to update this information throughout the incident, based on operational tempo of the hazard, rate of change in the incident, and operational needs from the PDBH or broader response effort.

PDBH Care:

  • Develop a PDBH “continuum of care” based on available services within the community to meet the broad spectrum of potential needs from this incident, including those of survivors, their families, and responding staff.
  • Based on estimations and assessments from the PDBH situational awareness data, develop a service delivery plan in coordination with community partners to meet the estimated demand for services.
  • Where gaps exist in capacity to provide care, explore and implement strategies to expand PDBH care including:
    • Reducing barriers to care (policy, regulatory, legal, and other actions)
    • Expand capacity to provide care (such as increased just-in-time-training, volunteer recruit and staffing expansion, telehealth, stepped care approaches, or programs such as FEMA’s Crisis Counseling Program)
    • Effectively utilize limited resources through disaster behavioral health surge management (triage and prioritization of limited resources to those in greatest need, load-leveling and interagency case coordination).
  • Prepare for transitions, both individually and programmatically, from any services that may end with response and recovery efforts to ongoing community services/programs.

PDBH Education & Technical Assistance:

  • Based on impact estimates and characterization, identify survivor, community, and responder educational and technical assistance needs.
  • Collect, collate, and distribute resource, educational, and technical assistance offerings to the broader response/recovery effort and key community partners.
  • Support “pediatric behavioral health-informed” communication and public information efforts by providing technical expertise and resources.
  • Identify specific, high priority opportunities to collaborate with the broader response/recovery effort, both internally and externally, and potential technical assistance needs.

PDBH Coordination:

  • Develop overall operational approach, including objectives and strategies, for PDBH team and secure needed staffing, resources, and leadership support to achieve identified objectives.
  • Establish internal PDBH team processes to share information, collaborate, and coordinate response and recovery activities.
    • For example, identify how information is shared between each function to inform the immediate and future actions of the team
  • Establish connection and integrate into existing process for organizational response efforts such as Hospital Incident Command System (HICS).
  • Identify key external organizations to communicate, collaborate, and coordinate with in support of PDBH objectives. Collaborate with existing response structure and processes to conduct outreach and engage key external organizations.