1

Disaster Recovery Navigator Program

In early October 2013, Suzanne Bassinger, Disaster Recovery Manager for
Larimer County gathered key stakeholders from the High Park Fire LTRG to
discuss lessons learned before we started the Flood LTRG. There were several
learning experiences discussed but one of the primary focuses was that the
previous Case Management model was not the best t for the mountain
survivors. The di!culty is that a Case Management center is established inside
Loveland (or Fort Collins) but the majority of the cases will be in the canyon
areas of the Big Thompson and Poudre Rivers. Estes Park will be served by a
satellite location but there are no rm plans on how folks will be seen there.
There are over 3,700 FEMA cases open and there will be 3 paid case managers
as well as a handful of volunteers. The only way survivors can access case
management services is to make the trip to Loveland and to be available for
appointments within the hours of the centers schedule. This creates two
barriers to service.
Additionally, the Mountain Outreach team exists with at least 18 employees and
they are charged with looking after the mental health needs and the mental
recovery of the survivors. They are considered an outreach team but they are
not tasked with helping people understand all the services they can access or
having someone advocate for them as they navigate those services.
The Disaster Recovery Navigator Program is designed to complement, not
replace, existing disaster case management services. This program operates
under the theory that cultural guides are necessary for taking case management
into diverse areas, especially those disaster areas that span a large geographic
area and multiple cultures. Many disaster survivors may be able to access
services either of their own volition or through meeting with a disaster case
manager. The disaster case management model is based on a system of
brokering in which case managers meet with clients, help them identify needs
and services, and then make referrals for the clients to access services. The
services are primarily o"ered from a (fairly) centrally located o!ce and clients
are encouraged to make appointments to review their situations with a case
manager. Occasional follow-up calls may be made by case managers, much as
brokers of any other service will do. However, this proposed program goes
beyond just connecting clients with services.
The disaster recovery navigator program is more closely aligned to the Program
of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) that has been used successfully for
many years within the mental health and substance abuse service delivery
systems. PACT provides comprehensive, locally based treatment but, unlike
most other community-based programs, PACT is not a linkage or brokerage
case-management program that simply connects individuals to other services or
agencies. PACT members provide comprehensive services within individuals
own homes, are available outside of regular o!ce hours and are not designed to
2
be brief interventions. Rather, a commitment is made to each qualifying
individual to assist and empower them to develop and reach their goals,
regardless of the time required to do so.
Based in part upon this model, disaster recovery navigators (navigators) will
provide outreach services, meeting with clients in their own homes, temporary
housing, or other locations within their own communities. Clients may be
physically, nancially, and/or psychologically unable to travel to the disaster
case management o!ce to meet with a case manager. Any client who has
expressed an inability or unwillingness to meet a case manager in the o!ce
would be eligible to be seen by a navigator in his/her home. Referrals may be
made to the Disaster Recovery Navigator Program by Colorado Spirit team
members who become aware of individuals who are unable and/or unwilling to
meet a case manager in the o!ce.
The Disaster Recovery Navigator Program will be comprised of multidisciplinary
team members all trained in disaster preparedness, response and recovery
concepts. They will have access to updated disaster assistance services and
resources including housing, employment, food, and nancial programs for
self-su!ciency. A disaster behavioral health consultant will be available to the
navigators to assist with referrals for stress-related problems.
A primary goal of navigators is to assist clients in the development and
accomplishment of short and long-term disaster recovery goals. Navigators will
promote stabilization, self-empowerment, and resilience through regular,
ongoing meetings with clients. During these meetings, navigators may assist
with comprehension and completion of required documentation; model self-
regulation and stability; provide information about self-care and family well-
being; and, overall, help create a sense of safety that allows clients to access
and utilize more e"ective problem-solving and communication skills. Navigators
may accompany clients to meetings with disaster resource agencies/o!cials to
advocate for and support them during potentially emotionally volatile times.
These services are much more intensive, client-centered and comprehensive
than existing disaster case management services.
What specic need is unmet regarding case management?
The current disaster case management system is largely dependent upon
individuals having reliable transportation, willingness to travel outside of their
local communities and the physical, mental and psychological capacities to meet
with a case manager in an o!ce to review their (painful) situations. This system
fails to acknowledge the fact that some individuals are too overwhelmed to
address their losses, actively seek assistance and meet deadlines. Additionally,
the existing disaster case management system utilizes a one size ts all
approach to service delivery. Cultural, language and legal status challenges
routinely create barriers to the receipt of services. Vulnerable, disempowered
and fearful individuals are expected to have strength, trust and assertiveness to
seek and receive services. This lack of cultural competence is a huge gap in the
3
current disaster assistance system, and especially, within the existing disaster
recovery model.
Navigators will reach out to individuals, travel to meet with them, establish
supportive relationships, meet regularly with them, and provide all appropriate
services to help these individuals regain stability and resilience.
4
In regard to the concept of nine Disaster Recovery Navigators, please provide
further detail about how SERVE 6.8 sees this as a sustainable network through
the nine month funding period?
The CSU School of Social Work (and possibly other departments) will provide
student interns throughout the nine month funding period. Social work
students seek placements in the fall, spring and summer sessions. They require
learning experiences that provide opportunities to practice social work skills
with individuals, groups and communities. The Disaster Recovery Navigator
Program will provide opportunities for students to learn and practice multi-
system, cross-cultural skills while providing valuable services for individuals
and communities impacted by disasters.
This nine month funding period will provide the foundation for an ongoing,
sustainable program for comprehensive disaster preparedness, response and
recovery. The initial group of trained navigators will, in addition to working one-
on-one with a"ected individuals, provide educational sessions in impacted
neighborhoods and communities. Community members will be recruited to
become neighborhood navigators who can help their neighbors by becoming
knowledgeable about disaster recovery resources and processes. The
neighborhood navigators can broker, connect, and advocate for individual and
community needs. Developing these neighborhood navigators will create
sustainability in the community after the initial disaster navigators are gone.
Undergraduate social work students must complete a total of 450 hours in eld
placements (internships). This is most frequently accomplished by working
approximately 30 hours/week for 16 weeks (one semester) although some
students complete their internships over a two-semester period, working
approximately 15 hours/week for up to 32 weeks.
Although students' interests vary, up to ten social work students per semester
may be placed with Serve 6.8 for community-based internships. Some students
choose to extend - or begin - their internships during the summer session.
This will provide a more seamless integration of new students into the program
with each new semester.
Forty hours of training will be provided for Navigators prior to their
engagement with individuals in the community. The training will be coordinated
by a seasoned social worker with disaster planning, response and recovery
experience and who will be providing ongoing consultation and training. Guest
lecturers will be utilized to address specic training needs such as FEMA
disaster recovery resources, policies and procedures; American Red Cross
Disaster Recovery resources; Long Term Recovery Group resources; and
insurance policy guidance. Navigators will spend the rst two weeks in training
where classroom training will be interspersed with orientation visits to a"ected
communities. As part of the plan for sustainability, selected Navigators will be
mentored to become team trainers.
5
Are there plans to continue the network Navigators beyond the nine month
period? How will that be sustained?
Once the Disaster Navigators are trained, one of the rst tasks they have in
addition to visiting survivors, is to identify leading individuals in the
neighborhoods who can then be trained as Neighborhood Navigators. The initial
Disaster Navigators will replicate themselves as many as several times over
during this nine month period. Once there are established Neighborhood
Navigators, there will be no need to keep the original nine Disaster Navigators
as there will be a volunteer system of Neighborhood Navigators working in their
communities during the duration of the recovery process.
As a nal component of the funded Disaster Recovery Navigator Program,
Disaster Navigators and Neighborhood Navigators will begin to address disaster
preparedness issues and activities for the coming year. Training will be provided
regarding disaster mitigation; individual, family and community disaster
response plans; and sustainable community recovery plans for potential, future
disasters. The navigators will explore networking with other communities to
strengthen the disaster recovery navigator system and to establish opportunities
for continued training and outreach. Should another disaster strike the area, the
framework for a readily established, comprehensive, disaster recovery system
will be in place.