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Resources for families following the tragedy in Uvalde

  • Category: Parenting
  • Posted on:
  • Written By: Julie Kaplow, PhD, ABPP, licensed clinical psychologist
Resources for families following the tragedy in Uvalde

Following the tragic shooting that occurred yesterday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, parents, caregivers, teachers, and school professionals may have questions and concerns about how to address children's reactions to this devastating tragedy.

Children's Hospital New Orleans is here to serve as a resource for families through this unthinkable, and incredibly challenging times such as these. Below please find resources that can provide guidance and support, along with information about the Trauma and Grief (TAG) Center at Children's Hospital, available as a resource for our school communities. 

The TAG Center provides evidence-based assessment and treatment for children and adolescents, ages 8 to 18, who have experienced any form of trauma, including ongoing community violence. Using state-of-the-art screening tools, the TAG Center ensures that youth receive the most appropriate and effective treatments. Learn more about our services and how to make an appointment >>

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has developed resources to help children, families, educators, and communities navigate what they are seeing and hearing, acknowledge their feelings, and find ways to cope together. These resources include: 

Psychological First Aid

The NCTSN also has resources for responders on Psychological First Aid (PFA; En Español). PFA is an early intervention to support children, adolescents, adults, and families impacted by these types of events. PFA Mobile and the PFA Wallet Card (En Español) provide a quick reminder of the core actions. The PFA online training course is also available on the NCTSN Learning Center.

Additional PFA resources for schools include:

From the National Mass Violence and Victimization Resource Center

From the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University

Disaster Helpline

SAMHSA has a Disaster Distress Helpline – call or text 1-800-985-5990 (for Spanish, press “2”) to be connected to a trained counselor 24/7/365. 

For individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis 24-hour mobile crisis lines include:
Orleans, St Bernard, Plaquemines Parish:
Metropolitan Crisis Response Team
504-826-2675
Jefferson Parish:
JPSHA Mobile Crisis Line
504-832-5123
These services offer telephone and face-to-face triage, assessment, and intervention for persons experiencing mental health crisis and are local to our area.
View additional mental and behavioral health resources here

Julie Kaplow, PhD, ABPP, is a licensed clinical psychologist, board certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Dr. Kaplow serves as Executive Director of the Trauma and Grief Centers at the Children’s Hospital New Orleans and The Hackett Center for Mental Health in Houston. She is also Professor of Psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine. In these roles, she oversees the development and evaluation of novel treatments for traumatized and bereaved youth and disseminates trauma- and bereavement-informed “best practices” to community providers nationwide. Following Hurricane Harvey, Dr. Kaplow and her team provided evidence-based risk screening and interventions to children and families adversely affected by Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath. She also helped to establish the Santa Fe Resiliency Center following the Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas, where her clinicians have provided evidence-based assessment and treatment to families impacted by the shooting. Prior to joining CHNOLA, Dr. Kaplow served as Chief of Psychology and Vice Chair for Behavioral Health in the Department of Pediatrics at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Kaplow received her BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Duke University. She completed her internship at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School followed by postdoctoral training at the Center for Medical and Refugee Trauma at Boston Medical Center.