Connecticut will receive $750,000 in federal funding for mental health support of Hurricane Maria evacuees living in the state, the governor said.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant will be used by the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) to serve children and families at child guidance clinics in Hartford, New Haven, New Britain, Waterbury and Bridgeport.
The services, also administered in collaboration with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), include outpatient counseling, medication management, mobile crisis and school outreach.
About 13,500 of 135,000 evacuees in Puerto Rico came to Connecticut in the six months after Hurricane Maria struck in Sept. 2017, according to the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College.
Recent estimates show roughly 3,000 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria, the worst natural disaster to impact Puerto Rico, according to a CNN report.
Many evacuees who fled the island, 1,000 miles southeast of Miami, experienced trauma enduring the storm, losing their homes and acclimating to a new society, DMHAS Commission Miriam Delphin-Rittmon said.
“We know that addressing trauma early leads to improved mental health outcomes, so providing this support is critical in ensuring families will thrive,” Delphin-Rittmon said.
State funding has also supported children and families affected by Hurricane Maria.
In July, the state announced it would use a budgeted $600,000 to help over 400 households impacted by Hurricane Maria and Irma to avoid homelessness. At the time, over 1,245 households had moved to Connecticut from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands seeking long-term or temporary housing.
