COUN5338 Implementing a Crisis Management Plan

U09a1: Implementing a Crisis Management Plan

Shontelle Crawford

Capella University

COUN5338 – Crisis Intervention, Trauma Response, and Emergency Management.

Professor: Linda Beeler, PhD, LPC

September 2019

Shontelle Crawford

805 El Toro Drive

Bakersfield, CA, 93304

(661) 412-8551

Email: [email protected]

Today, I am writing a paper about tragedy that occurred at Sylvia Plath High School, and I am also informing the parents, guardians, and community about the schools plans on managing the situation by implementing the school’s crisis management plan, along with providing some community resources for families to receive assistance regarding the accident that occurred. It is always tragic to hear of a community crisis that involves people we know and those we do not. However, in this paper, the author will provide information on the death of one of our beloved teachers’ named Andrew Smith, Mr. Smith was also our boys’ soccer team coach. This morning Mr. Smith was involved in a motor vehicle accident, as reported to all, as per Principal Mrs. Ramsey’s announcement over the intercom system. Furthermore, as one of the school counselors, the school counselors and I intend to make available counseling to any student that feels the need to speak with someone, here on campus and I will be providing additional information for resources out in the community. Additionally, those community resources will include information on grief organizations that offer individual and group counseling services, along with various support groups for adolescents and adults.

Part One

September 8, 2019

To: Parents, Guardian, and Community Members,

From: Shontelle L. Crawford, School Counselor

Re: The death of one of our beloved teachers Andrew Smith

This letter is concerning the tragedy that occurred on Friday, September 6, 2019, at approximately 7:45 am, regarding the death of our beloved social studies teacher and soccer coach Andrew Smith, who was involved in a fatal vehicle accident on his way to work. As a school, we are devoted to the care and instruction of all our students. As we do not know or understand the circumstances of the accident; however, our main concern at this point is our students and staff.

Although no students were directly involved in the accident, however, we have heard that a few students witnessed the accident, and it is expected that some of our students may be upset concerning the collision. We must be vigilant with our sensitivity and compassion in the days to come as many student’s in our school will need and require our assistance in trying to manage their feelings concerning the death of Mr. Smith. The school is preparing a counseling support session, which will be made available later today to any student or staff who may feel the need for such services. Furthermore, I have contacted additional crisis counseling team members to start on Monday, September 9, 2019, and they will be available indefinitely.

I will arrange and schedule a brief meeting of administration, SRO, teachers, and support staff to fill everyone in about the crisis management plan, the school’s next steps. So subsequently, tomorrow morning, the crisis management team along with myself and other counselors will meet the freshman class in the library, which will serve as our make-shift crisis center, and this strategy will continue with each class until we reach each group of students. Besides, this will assist the counselors in determining what services are exactly needed and what the school can provide.

As a school counselor, my role is to: assist students overcome issues impeding their academic achievement and success, assist students in identifying problems, causes, and alternative and possible consequences so they can make decisions and take appropriate actions, which are planned, goal-focused and are short-termed per . Additional counselors will be available for students and staff on an at-need basis, individually, here at school; however, I have also formulated a list of community resources for anyone that may need some extra counseling services.

By the way, funeral arrangements are pending, but as soon as they are available, the school will provide a letter to the parents, guardians, and community with a date and time for those who wish to send condolences or attend.

I am sending my gratitude to all the staff and community members who have been very helpful in this crisis. Your courage and support are truly cherished not just by me, but all the students, parents, and guardians involved, along with the family of Andrew Smith.

Please feel free to contact me at (661) 412-8551 or by email at [email protected], if you should have any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Shontelle Crawford

Part Two

Crisis intervention skills and strategies

In this situation, the school counselor must provide counseling for the students individually or in the group session, as well as using referral services to external agencies. Because of the fatal accident of Andrew Smith, many students may be traumatized and may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and maybe in need of professional services . According to , school counselors in schools and universities should have emergency preparedness and response plan available and ready to implement upon a crisis. Jackson-Cherry & Erford (2018), stated that mitigation and prevention strategies must be emphasized as critical elements in a school environment (p.405). Therefore, it is imperative that school counselors have specific aspects available like crisis preparedness, response, recovery, and debriefing procedures in place upon any crisis. Per , (1) mitigation and prevention addresses mechanisms the school can ensure to reduce or eliminate risk to life or property; (2) preparedness, the procedure of planning for a crisis; (3) response, actions taken during the crisis; and (4) recovery, restoring the school back to normalcy after the crisis.

As the school counselor, I would choose between the PREPaRE Framework, Seven Tasks of Assessments, or the Multi-tiered System of Support. According to , the PREPaRE model emphasizes that the school crisis team must involve school mental health professionals because the acronym stands for: P – prevent and PREPaRE for psychological trauma; R – reaffirm physical health and perceptions of security and safety; E – evaluate psychological trauma risk; P- provide interventions; a – and; R – respond to psychological needs; E – examine the effectiveness of the crisis prevention and intervention. Therefore, in the case of Tyler Smith, the PREPaRE model will enable the crisis team to assist him now, as well as later because he will definitely need to follow up with an outside resource because he has some build-up anger issues, and he will need some further counseling services to monitor his progress. As far as Amir Malik, the model I would use is the Psychological First Aid because it is aimed to lessen the primary anguish caused by traumatic events and to foster short- and long-term adaptive functioning and coping per . However, my intent would counsel him in the first few days after the crisis because he is concerned and confused about the loss of Andrew Smith. Subsequently, I visualize adapting the PREPaRE, the Psychological First Aid, and the Multi-tiered System of Support models to the various individuals that Principal Ramsey had me speak with as my earliest. Furthermore, for the other students, teachers, and staff that may have been affected by this crisis, the counseling team and I may need to provide some minimal counseling session for them and possibly refer some to outside services to cope with the crisis.

Community resources and referral sources

American Hospice Foundation – www.ameicanhospice.org

American Red Cross – www.redcross.org

American School Counselors Association – www.schoolcounselor.org

Betterhelp – www.betterhelp.com – [email protected] BetterHelp is the largest online counseling platform worldwide. We change the way people get help with facing life’s challenges by providing convenient, discreet, and affordable access to a licensed therapist. BetterHelp makes professional counseling available anytime, anywhere, through a computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Center for Mental Health Services – www.mentalhealth.org/cmhs/emergencyservices/after.aps

Kern County Mental Health – www.kernbhrs.org (1-800-991-5272) crisis hotline, provides 24/7 services;

Mental/Behavioral Health Services (KCDHS) – www.kerncounty.com/dhs/resources/mental health (661) 631-6000 or (661) 631-6200 (TTY);

National Educators Association (NEA) – www.nea.org/crisis/bihome.html#response

Griefshare – griefshare.org/countries/us/states/ca/cities/Bakersfield (800) 395-5755;

Grief Camps:

Camp Erin – Los Angeles – www.ourhouse-grief.org (310) 473-1511 ext. 221

Kids Camp – Bakersfield & Fresno – www.optimalcares.com (661) 716-4000

Hoffman Hospice – Bakersfield – www.hoffmannhospice.org (661) 410-1010

Optimal Hospice Foundation – Bakersfield – www.optimalhospicefoundation.com – (661) 716-8000

Effects of crisis, disasters, and trauma on diverse populations

According to , who states that LGBTQ students do not have support from their families; therefore, may experience different challenges that would create stress along with the crisis situation that occurs at school. So, subsequently, the LGBTQ student may be attempting to manage to deal with family matters; therefore, as the school counselor I may also have to address the personal issue of the family, as well as discuss the death of Andrew Smith because he or she may feel as though he or she should have been killed in the accident. Another situation could be where I am trying to address a student with a language barrier, which would be somewhat difficult because of the language. But it is imperative that I seek someone in the counseling feel that speaks the language of this student to discuss his or her concerns as soon as possible.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is the school counselor’s role to assist students in overcoming issues impeding their academic achievement and success, assist students in identifying problems, causes, and alternative and possible consequences so they can make decisions and take appropriate actions, which are planned, goal-focused and are short-termed per . Furthermore, as the school counselor, it is my responsibility to take a leadership role because as school counselor, I am to advocate, lead, collaborate and consult to create systemic change by providing equitable educational access and success by connecting the school counseling program to the districts mission and improvement plan per . Therefore, I have taken the lead in this crisis as per the principal of the Sylvia Plath High School.

Principal Ramsey has petitioned me to draft and write a letter to the parents, guardians and community notifying them of the steps that the school will be taking to assure that all of the students, teachers, and staff along with the community will know what occurred with our social studies teacher and boys soccer coach Andrew Smith’ untimely death. Furthermore, I have included in the letter a list of school and community resources that are made available to each and every one of you.