Welcome!

The California Disaster Mental Health Coalition is a statewide multi-disciplinary alliance established to improve Disaster Mental Health (Behavioral Health) services across professional disciplines. We partner with professional associations and providers of Disaster Mental Health to assist diverse individuals, groups, and communities recover from crises and disasters.

Our Coalition consists of representatives from various professional associations, governmental agencies, and consulting affiliates. Together, we exchange information and stay updated on changes in Disaster Mental Health. We collaborate on local and national disasters as appropriate. We combine efforts with the American Red Cross, a prominent member of our Coalition since its inception in 2003. Additionally, we worked with the State of California to develop the California Disaster Behavioral Health Plan. 

Coalition members consult with other mental health providers interested in the field of Disaster Mental Health. It is crucial that DMH providers are sufficiently trained to provide “best practices”: hence, training is strongly encouraged within all our member organizations. 

The Coalition encourages other mental health professionals get trained by established response organizations before disasters strike in order to be legitimately deployed as part of a coordinated disaster relief operation. Please see our Resources (include link) page in this website if you are interested in becoming a Disaster Mental Health volunteer. Your respective organization can guide you from there.