INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — In times of disaster, the federal government not only has programs designed to help people recover financially, but emotionally. Crisis Counseling Grants are available from FEMA for any county designated a disaster area by the president.

The grants help to reimburse a state for the costs of providing counseling services, including travel to the disaster area and for the counselors, said Andrew P. Klatte, assistant deputy director of the Office of Disaster Response and Preparedness in the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction. The division is under the state’s Family and Social Services Administration.

Indiana has received a $160,000 interim services grant from FEMA for counseling costs incurred to help victims of the March 2-3 tornadoes in the southern part of the state, Klatte said. Officials have also applied for a regular services grant of $500,000, which should provide funding through the first anniversary of the storms, he noted.

Klatte said he was optimistic the grant would be approved, though as of last week, the state was waiting for final word.

The grants would go to help those in the six counties – Clark, Jefferson, Ripley, Scott, Warrick and Washington – declared disaster areas by President Obama a few days after the tornadoes hit. Thirteen people were killed in Indiana during the storms.

Regardless of whether the state receives federal grant money, counseling services are available to anyone in the affected counties who may need it, Klatte said. Indiana has mental health teams that were dispatched to Henryville and other hard-hit areas almost immediately after the storms, he said.

The program is called Project Aftermath. From March 2-May 8, those teams spoke with 4,500 people in the six counties, he stated.

“I think it’s impressive,” he said. “We had people working on the ground starting on March 2. Regardless of a (presidential disaster) declaration or not, we’re not sure what’s going to happen. So we go in ready to go.”

Klatte’s office works closely with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS), he said.

“The partnership with IDHS is unlike most partnerships between responding agencies and mental health agencies,” he explained. “They really do embrace us. They ask us to come out. We all know each other and we all work together.”

Indiana has mental health response teams in each of 10 districts, with a total of about 350 people statewide, Klatte said. Counselors are credentialed and vetted so they’re ready to go when and where they’re needed.

In the first couple of weeks after the March 2 tornadoes, 35 counselors rotated in and out of the six counties, Klatte said, adding he was able to pull additional volunteers from districts in Gary, South Bend and Indianapolis.

Indiana started developing a mental health disaster plan after Sept. 11, 2001, Klatte said. In light of those attacks, the federal government asked states to look into the psychological responses of the public. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans and the surrounding area in 2005, was also a factor in the organization of the teams and the disaster plan, he said.

The nature of the March tornadoes has made the mental recovery of those who live in the affected areas tougher, Klatte said.

“The tornadoes were so violent that they freaked people out,” he noted. “They were more violent and more intense than we’re used to.

“And because these were rural areas, a lot of the first responders and the victims knew each other.”

Some people are just now able to talk about what happened during the tornadoes, said Meghan Compton, Project Aftermath team leader.

“In the beginning, they were strong, really reluctant to talk to us,” she said. “They thought they could do it on their own. But now, everyone is disappearing, but they’re still sitting there. It’s a close community and it’s hard to open up and ask for help. But we are finding people are opening up more.”

Some victims are concerned about scams and wonder who they can trust, she noted.

The speed at which life begins to return to normal may also be frustrating to victims, said Jenny Harrison, regional director of clinic services with Centerstone in central Indiana.

“Recovery often doesn’t happen as quickly as they hope it will,” Harrison said. “They think it’ll clean up pretty quickly and life will be back to normal within a month or two. This type of disaster doesn’t get cleaned up and back to normal that quickly.”To reach a counselor, call toll free 866-679-4631. For more information, see www.indianaprojectaftermath.org