Colorado will receive nearly $1.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for community-based crisis counseling.

The grant will enable 16 mental health and community services providers to deliver crisis counseling, focusing on communities with a disproportionate impact from COVID-19. The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus will also operate a statewide hotline to provide resources for healthcare workers who give support to patients.

The Immediate Services Program provides funding after a major disaster declaration, such as the current public health emergency. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the program is intended to give “immediate, short-term disaster relief and crisis counseling services.”

The state wrote in its application to the federal government that the pandemic has affected “every person while also bringing to light inequities, which have resulted in disproportionate outcomes for different groups of people, whether it be related to race, socio-economic status, type of employment, or other factors.”

There are more than half a dozen types of counseling services that the grant can support. Brief educational contact or individual counseling can last up to 15 minutes to help survivors of a disaster understand their situation and connect with further resources. The aid can also fund group counseling or public education, the latter of which involves counselors presenting information to communities. Coordination with other community groups and public service announcements through the media are other acceptable uses of the money to link people to crisis counseling.