This tip sheet for parents and other caregivers and teachers explains how to help children cope with the emotional aftermath of a disaster and includes information on common reactions according to developmental stage.

This guide provides information to help schools respond effectively to a range of school crises and disasters that affect school communities. The links provided offer strategies to potentially prevent violent school-based tragedies, identify students who may be at greatest risk of violent behavior, and address the emergent needs of students during times of crisis.

The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at the USC Suzanna Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is dedicated to helping schools support their students through crisis and loss. They offer crisis response resources, educational materials, and consultation and training, and they conduct childhood bereavement and disaster preparedness research. Many of the resources they offer are free; however, the books may require purchase.

The American Indian Institute brings together specialists from North American Indian tribes and bands representing such diverse areas as education, human services, sociology, psychology, history, economics, research, and evaluation to provide leadership and strategies related to complex social and human problems and challenges including substance abuse.

This tip sheet provides prevention, preparedness, and proper conduct guidelines for religious leaders to use during an active shooter crisis. The sheet also includes information on how to help the congregation recover from such an event.

This publication is designed to help community members feel more prepared for active shooter situations. The resource explains strategies for identifying an active shooter, responding when an active shooter is in the area, preparing for and managing an active shooter situation, recognizing potential workplace violence, and managing the consequences of an active shooter situation.

This video features Dr. Paramjit Joshi, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Childrens National Medical Center in Washington, DC, who offers guidance for teachers and counselors in supporting children in processing and coping after a school shooting or other traumatic event.

This tip sheet provides guidance to help leaders understand their role in individual and community recovery following a tragedy such as a natural or human-caused disaster. This resource offers leaders communication strategies for the immediate aftermath of a tragedy as well as throughout the recovery process. The list of common symptoms of grief can also help leaders provide support and plan recovery activities.

Developed by several federal departments, this collaborative guide provides houses of worship with information regarding emergency operations planning for the spectrum of threats and hazards they may face. It includes steps in the planning process, important components of an emergency operations plan, and an example of how a plan can be used to cope in one type of emergency (an active shooter situation).

This online article suggests ways for families and school staff to behave around children, and talk with children, to help them cope with the emotional effects of acts of terrorism. Adults are also advised to monitor their own emotions and levels of stress and engage in self-care activities.

This tip sheet identifies 10 ways in which youth may react to community traumas such as natural or human-caused disasters and suggests ways for educators to respond to these reactions and support youth in coping. The tip sheet also advises educators to find professional mental health support for youth and for themselves as needed.

This article discusses how children may react to traumatic events with information specific to the Boston Marathon bombing in this case and what parents and caregivers can do to help them cope with these events.

This toolkit provides information, guidance, checklists, and other resources to help communities incorporate assistance for victims into their mass violence and terrorism preparedness and response efforts. The toolkit features sections to guide communities in developing partnerships, planning for effective victim assistance, and engaging in response and recovery activities.

These guidelines enable humanitarian actors to plan, establish and coordinate a set of minimum multi-sectoral responses to protect and improve people’s mental health and psychosocial well-being in the midst of an emergency.

In this online article, the APA provides recommendations for parents for talking with their children after a shooting. The APA provides tips and strategies for helping children manage their distress, and it suggests that parents also engage in self-care activities so they can effectively support their children in coping.

The IHS Division of Behavioral Health runs programs and fosters information sharing and capacity-building efforts to improve behavioral health among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Its website features descriptions of its programs, resources for information about and funding of tribal behavioral health programs and services, and public information campaign materials.

This webpage discusses the risk factors for distress after a mass violence event. The page also discusses what to do in lock-down situations, signs of distress, how to get help when needed, and additional resources.

The goal of this tip sheet is to provide guidance to managers regarding their role in workplace recovery following a disaster. Tips address taking care of the team and the workplace environment during the recovery process.

This online article identifies common reactions to a shooting and provides tips to help people strengthen their resilience. It also recommends that people seek professional help if they are having difficulty coping with the event and their reactions.

This guidance document is based on an international expert consensus workshop that yielded guidelines for immediate, intermediate, and long-term response following disasters and mass violence.

The NCTSN’s mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children, their families and communities throughout the United States. NCTSN develops and disseminates resource materials, and they offer education and training materials on disaster-related topics, as well as general childhood trauma topics.

This website offers articles, worksheets, educational materials, interactive tools, and other information on all aspects of military life, including parenting, deployment, substance abuse, spouse training, and more.

Designed for youth, this resource provides information on community violence, how it can affect the daily lives of people in communities with high levels of violence, and what to do for support. It also helps youth to understand their reactions and offers tips for safety.

This handbook is intended to help survivors of a terrorist or mass violence incident to understand common reactions they may experience. It includes coping tips and suggestions for finding assistance from friends, mental health professionals, and the Office for Victim Assistance.

This fact sheet discusses the physical and mental health issues that affect each gender differently. The document also stresses the importance of maintaining a gender perspective in emergencies, how to provide gender-responsive health services in emergencies, how to address the physical and psychosocial trauma of gender-based violence in emergencies, and the guiding principles for providing support to survivors.