Sonoma County Office of Education offers free resources to support recovery after Kincade Fire

11/04/2019 - To support school mental health recovery after the Kincade Fire, The Sonoma County Office of Education has made available free resources for educators, families and students. The resources, also available in Spanish, are available at SCOE’s web site, scoe.org/traumaresources.

“During these trying times, it’s imperative for families to take note of the impact of the Kincade Fire on their children,” said Dr. Steve Herrington, Sonoma County superintendent of schools. “We have developed a resource page to assist families in talking with their children. If families can create a more normal environment for their children it will help them recover after this trauma.”

SCOE will also support mental health activity at schools with its Crisis Assistance and Resilience Education (CARE) team. The team is funded by a grant through the California Department of Education and was established to address lasting trauma from the Tubbs Fire in 2017. The CARE team consists of one half-time and two full-time credentialed counselors.

According to Mandy Corbin, SCOE's assistant superintendent of special education, "the CARE team is in the process of providing training to teachers and other school staff regarding responding to student learning and social-emotional needs in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster. They assist schools and families with how to talk to our children about what has occurred and how to begin to help our children recover from this event. The CARE team helps us, as the adults, to have a well thought out plan of how to take care of ourselves and to take care of our students and their learning."

The CARE team offers three tiers of support that schools can choose from. The first tier targets district and school-wide training and resources. The second tier can assist smaller groups, including group counseling for students or staff. The third tier targets individuals with the highest needs, including individual student and staff counseling. The CARE team will also refer students and staff to community resources and additional outside counseling if needed.