WTC Records Folder 0128 Disaster Information General label, 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Responding to Terrorism Victims - Oklahoma City and Beyond Page 3 of 7

working with federal workers. Many new federal managers were assigned to Oklahoma City as a result of the bombing. These managers were not always sensitive to the needs of their fragile and traumatized work force. Employee needs were not addressed as effectively as they could have been. An ongoing liaison between the various federal personnel offices, EAPs, and Project Heartland might have been helpful in meeting employee needs in the aftermath of the bombing. Within the U.S. Attorney's Office, some staff members later requested debriefings, noting that other "trauma veterans" such as rescue workers, police, firefighters, and treatment providers were offered or required to participate in debriefing sessions on a weekly basis.

Project Heartland

Created by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Project Heartland was the immediate mental health response to the bombing. FEMA provided initial funding for "crisis counseling, crisis intervention, support groups, outreach, consultation, and education to individuals who were affected by emotional or physical proximity to the bombing," and on May 15, 1995, Project Heartland opened.' Because Project Heartland was the first community mental health response to a large-scale terrorist event in the United States, there was no previous experience to guide and establish the appropriate services for terrorist-caused psychological trauma Project Heartland found that traditional crisis counseling techniques were not sufficient, and new approaches were developed to reach disaster survivors. From 5 original staff members, Project Heartland grew to 65 employees providing a comprehensive array of clinical, educational, and outreach services. FEMA supported Project Heartland as the longest Regular Services project it ever funded—funding was extended three times and ended on February 28, 1998 (Center for Mental Health Services, ND). FEMA awarded $4,092,909 to Oklahoma Regular Services.

On March 11, 1997, Project Heartland received notification from OVC that $234,930 had been awarded to fund crisis-counseling activities at the Safe Havens during the trials in Oklahoma City and at the trials in Denver, Colorado. Since FEMA guidelines do not allow funding of long-term mental health services outside of the federally declared disaster area, OVC funded the necessary mental health services during the trials. The Safe Havens served as places of respite for the victims' family members and survivors attending the trial proceedings in Denver or the closed-circuit television (CCTV) broadcasts of the trials in Oklahoma City. On February 28, 1998, OVC extended the grant and awarded an additional $264,000. OVC's grants to Project Heartland allowed services to continue for the many survivors, family members, other individuals affected, and an increasing number of rescue workers and rescue worker family members seeking help with problems stemming from the bombings Among the most innovative services provided by Project Heartland were the OVC-funded activities related to the trials—availability of crisis counseling at Safe Havens during the trials in Denver and CCTV broadcasts in Oklahoma City (American Psychological Association, July 1997). (See fnrrther description of mental health services under chapter IV, "The Criminal Pretrial and Trial Phases.")

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publication/infores/respterrorism/chap3.html 9/29/01

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