Safety Net Services

Safety Net Services refers to services such as behavioral health, assistance with obtaining food and medical benefits, financial assistance, animal services and protection. The need for these services intensified during wildfire response and will continue to be high throughout the long recovery process. The vision for this strategic are is that Sonoma County will restore and improve resiliency of health and social services systems, networks, and capabilities to promote equity, independence, and well-being for the whole community.

• Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program Grant
  • The Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program, known locally as California HOPE, is administered in Sonoma County through the County Department of Health Services, Behavioral Health Division. California HOPE counselors have helped to provide over 65,800 services and counseling sessions to community members (this data contains duplicate individuals).
  • The California HOPE program helps individuals and communities recover from natural and human-caused disasters through community outreach, counseling, and access to mental health services for survivors of these disasters. Counselors specialize in helping survivors understand their current reactions, reduce stress, receive emotional support, prioritize their needs and solve problems, choose coping strategies, and connect with people and agencies who can help. Bilingual counselors are available.
  • The initial recovery work is supported by short-term disaster relief grants from FEMA for $4.3 million. California HOPE funding from FEMA ends in January 2019, and Kaiser Permanente has confirmed an additional $1 million. County Department of Health Services is pursuing additional funding to continue California HOPE to September 2019.
• Created ACCESS Sonoma County Initiative to coordinate care delivery. ACCESS consists of a rapid-response, interdepartmental, multi-disciplinary Team (IMDT).
• Partnered with IBM to develop a multi-departmental database to support the work of ACCESS Sonoma County to identify target populations in need of services and track data metrics for success.
• Initiated discussions with key community partners including Rebuilding Our Community (ROC) Sonoma County to collaborate on One-Stop-Shop opportunities.
• Response after the fires included:
• 4,162 evacuees cared for in 43 shelters
• 52,372 callers helped via emergency hotline through the end of October 2017
• 10,000 masks, 2,562 cots, 2,300 sheets and 1,850 pillows distributed in first 72 hours
• 11,204 residents served at the Local Assistance Centers
• 41 community meetings held in first 4 weeks to keep public informed
• 4,000+ replacement documents issued to victims of wildfires
• 3,557 disaster calls received by Animal Services in the field and 10,465 office calls to help residents locate displaced animals
• 4,700 people whose income or employment was impacted by fires assisted in filing for disaster unemployment insurance