west-virginia-flood-one-year-report.PDF

Flood Relief and Recovery for Children and Families in West Virginia: One-year Progress Report June 2017 Executive Summary The Crisis at a Glance The Impact of Your Support Immediate Support to Children and Families      Restoring Access to Schools   Restoring Access to Early Learning and Child Care   Out-of-School-time Programming, School-Library Support and Material Support for Classrooms and Teachers     Supporting Children’s Resiliency Save the Children is a national leader in helping provide psychosocial and emotional recovery programs for children and adults following emergencies  We deployed our disaster-tested Journey of Hope psychosocial support program1 to help flood-affected children develop resilience and identify and cope with their feelings To provide this program in a cost-efficient manner, and to bolster the state’s capacity to deliver mental health and emotional recovery programming, we are partnering with West Virginia University’s Prevention Research Center We trained 33 master trainers such as graduate students, professionals, child care professional development providers and EMS workers in the Journey of Hope curriculum In turn, with our technical guidance and support, the trainers delivered the programs to 96 facilitators, who have conducted 13 workshops for over 170 children The implementers trained by Save the Children will deliver programs to children from August to December 2017  We conducted Journey of Hope Care for the Adult Caregivers workshops to help 64 adults who work with children to  Helping Ensure Support Reaches the Families Most In Need through Long-Term Recovery Groups Numerous studies have documented children’s susceptibility to behavioral, psychological and emotional issues after experiencing a traumatic event such as a natural disaster If not addressed, these issues can have a detrimental effect on children’s behavior and school performance and lead to immediate and longer-term mental health challenges Studies have also documented the impact of and benefits that children gain from active coping strategies that help them manage stress, express their emotions, remain resilient and think positively Save the Children is one of very few U.S providers of child-focused psychosocial support in the post-crisis and recovery environment Journey of Hope helps children and adults cope, build on their natural resiliency and strengthen their network of social support with friends and others It has been proven by third-party academic evaluators to promote critical protective factors post-disaster Journey of Hope has to date reached over 85,000 children in the U.S The Strength of Partnerships Our Focus on Long-term Recovery     Conclusion