KCCRT provides assessments, crisis intervention, service collaboration, and system development following disasters. The Kentucky Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (BHDID) as the state-led disaster mental health agency, coordinates services, administers FEMA Crisis Counseling grants when necessary following a Presidential Declaration, in collaboration with local and regional mental health providers.
Primary ESF-8 Agencies
The Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH), The Kentucky Department of Behavioral Health, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDID) and the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services (KBEMS) are designated as “Primary” ESF-8 Agencies responsible for coordinating state-level support upon activation of the Department for Public Health’s Department Operations Center and/or the state’s Emergency Operations Center.
The ESF 8 Annex is a functional annex that defines how Kentucky’s ESF 8 Agencies will coordinate public health and medical-related preparedness, response, and recovery activities for any incident/event that will require state-level coordination.
The ESF 8 - Public Health and Medical Services provides the mechanism for agencies within Kentucky to effectively coordinate preparedness, response, and recovery activities for any all-hazards incident requiring public health and medical needs. The Disaster Behavioral Health Services (DBHS) Support Plan provides detailed guidance on how state-level ESF 8 agencies will coordinate support to local jurisdictions for disaster behavioral health services during an all-hazards incident.