Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center website at

https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac. 

Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) 

Grantee Creative Outreach Strategies and Ideas 

Contents

Ideas for Delivering Individual Crisis Counseling .................................................................................................. 1

Ideas for Delivering Group Crisis Counseling and Public Information Sessions..................................................... 2

Ideas for Outreach and Program Promotion ....................................................................................................... 4

Materials Distribution ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Media/Social Media .................................................................................................................................................. 4

Partnerships .............................................................................................................................................................. 5

Ideas for Program Management......................................................................................................................... 6

Ideas for Outreach to Tribal and urban American Indian populations:................................................................. 8

Ideas for Delivering Individual Crisis Counseling

• Identify warming locations for individuals who are homeless during the winter months and use

those sites to distribute resources and connect with them.

• Coordinate with an in-state emergency rental assistance program to distribute resources and 

reach out to individuals and families served by the program.

• Partner with human resource departments of area businesses and schools to offer wellness 

check-in appointments in which teachers and other employees can talk privately with a crisis 

counselor. Use an online scheduling program that allows employees to schedule appointments 

without other employees at their organizations knowing they have done so.

• With hard-to-reach populations, such as nursing home residents or students, contact their 

support staff, teachers, parents, administrators, or relevant coalitions, providing information 

and resources that they will hopefully filter down to the target population.

• Offer follow-up calls after every contact.

• Create a dedicated program email account to send resources including community event flyers, 

etc. 

• Offer resources, a hotline number, and virtual groups as needed for department of corrections 

staff in places where staff are highly impacted by an emergency event or declared disaster, 

such as during the COVID-19 pandemic when infectious disease spread was rapid and infection 

rates were high. 

• Collaborate with retired educators to establish response teams that can be deployed to 

schools affected by the disaster, taking help directly to educators and school support staff.

• Reach out to high schools to consider reserving an empty office for students to use during 

specific hours (such as lunchtime) to direct them to call counselors who are available at those 

times. 

• Attend farmers’ markets to hand out materials and provide onsite counseling.
2

Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center website at

https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac. 

• Hold social check-in calls or establish “chat buddy” relationships between CCP staff and people 

with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

• Start or participate in a pen pal program between CCP staff and residents in nursing homes and

assisted living facilities.

• Partner with food delivery resources to put outreach materials in food delivery boxes; deliver 

boxes with partners to make contact with recipient. 

• Partner with local libraries to set up a private room with a computer or tablet with set drop-in 

hours so that community members without access to technology or the internet can still 

connect with crisis counselors during set hours.

• Work with community liaisons and partners to work through barriers reaching certain groups. 

Embed CCP workers in locations frequented by populations you aim to reach, such as

o Migrant farmworker community and gathering places

o Black churches and Black barbershops/beauty shops

o Mosques, synagogues, and multicultural places of worship

o Libraries, which may serve as gathering places for individuals living in homelessness

o Youth/young adult CCP workers at places where youth gather (skate parks, arcades, 

etc.)

• Provide color-coded cards that represent different feelings and needs (e.g., blue for loneliness, 

red for immediate assistance needed, green for okay) for people to post in their home 

windows. Local CCP counselors can then walk/drive around the community and provide 

services when needed. 

• Have CCP workers train local business employees to talk about the program and supply printed 

outreach materials at community gathering places, for example: a gas station/market that 

everybody visits.

• Request permission to present information at the national consulate for the country that 

represents the affected international population; hand out materials and provide onsite 

counseling to individuals visiting the consulate for other services.

• Make use of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultants to ensure outreach is effective in 

reaching target populations. 

• Conduct outreach to healthcare workers through journals, newsletters, or other publications 

issued through state associations serving nurses, public health workers, or other healthcare 

workers.

Ideas for Delivering Group Crisis Counseling and Public Information Sessions 

• Offer virtual “conversation cafés" to provide an anonymous, supportive environment for 

people to talk with each other. Promote these cafés to assisted living facilities, nursing homes, 

healthcare clinics, unified command staff, etc.

• Offer virtual support groups to overburdened parents trying to support their children through 

unpredictable and often changing environments. 

• Provide virtual or in-person presentations to Rotary Clubs, the Elks, farmers’ associations, and 

other community organizations that include information about the CCP as well as self-care and 

coping strategies.

• Set up town hall meetings with state staff or other professional groups to share information 

about the program.

• Host standing groups for specific populations such as older adults, healthcare workers, etc.

• Reach out to nonprofit service agencies to see if they would be interested in a group session 

tailored for their staff.
3

Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center website at

https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac. 

• Create weekly virtual drop-in peer-run wellness affinity groups for first-line responders, mental

health and substance use disorder treatment professionals, frontline healthcare workers, etc.

• Hold drop-in educational sessions at set times each month to provide background information 

about the CCP’s services. 

• Hold children’s reading hours at local libraries that include information about stress

management and coping strategies for children and parents. Make program materials available 

to all library patrons.

• Schedule virtual presentations with middle school and high school health classes.

• Establish virtual office hours for parents to join and discuss issues of concern.

• Host skate days at local skate parks where you provide psycho-education and in-person 

support to youth. 

• Establish community youth/young adult-oriented game night (i.e., Dungeons and Dragons, 

online gaming). Attend and provide education and supportive listening; coach game 

participants on how to talk to their family/friends about stress. 

• Establish a virtual gaming night that includes the use of Discord, which allows individuals to 

drop into a chat room where a counselor is attending.

• Host "adopt-a-grandma"/"adopt-a-kid" programs to connect kids with adults in senior centers 

while providing education and outreach. 

• As part of public information sessions held with schoolchildren, ask the students to join in 

efforts to support the older adult population of their community. Ask students to write a letter 

or create some artwork that can be collected and then distributed to residents of eldercare 

facilities. 

• Broadcast short, informative, and uplifting video messages via Facebook Live and Instagram 

stories. Create short YouTube videos on topics like grief or stress management; these allow the 

community to engage in asynchronous, self-directed learning and processing long after the CCP 

phases down. 

• Engage with culturally specific radio talk shows and podcasts. 

• Reach special population groups through culturally specific social media pages.

• Establish new or connect with existing private support groups on social media channels 

addressing such topics as:

o Domestic violence after disasters

o Substance use disorders

o Employment for speakers of languages other than English

o Anxiety and stress

o Grief 

• Offer brief educational information and distribute handouts in locations where people are 

forced to wait (captive audience), e.g., Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or 

state-sponsored events, vaccine observation, waiting for services. 

• Provide wellness check-ins at vaccine and testing pop-up clinic sites, or other community 

health events. 

• Partner with local resource agencies to create resource fairs/community wellness fairs. 

o These can be held virtually and/or outdoors, if needed.

o Invite community leaders and experts to share information regarding meditation, 

nutrition, finance, youth mental health, exercise, and vaccines.

o Set up free games/activities for youth and adults during the fair. 

• Hire counselors from different refugee communities to tap into their networks to distribute 

information on your program, and have these counselors establish groups to serve their 
4

Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center website at

https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac. 

communities. Many refugee communities have language-specific Facebook pages where they 

can be reached.

• Collaborate with Disaster Legal Aid and other entities providing legal assistance to survivors to 

co-host education sessions. 

• Host anniversary commemoration events. 

• Host community feasts where the community comes together through food and learns about 

the CCP program.

Ideas for Outreach and Program Promotion

Materials Distribution

• Have a table at a local community gathering space (e.g., coffee shop, park, recreation center, 

community center). 

• Drop off, mail, or email materials and tip sheets for distribution through the following 

organizations:

o Places of employment for healthcare practitioners and first responders

o Places of worship 

o Funeral homes for the staff as well as families who interact with them

o Local businesses, which can provide hardcopies of materials and/or email materials to

their remote workers

o Grocery stores, markets, and pharmacies/drugstores

o Liquor stores, wineries and breweries, tobacco/vape shops, and dispensaries

o Restaurants and other businesses making deliveries 

o Police and fire stations (materials for the community and the staff) 

o Hospitals (materials can be included in discharge paperwork)

o Nursing homes and other residential centers (materials for residents and staff) 

o Municipal or government buildings and offices 

o Food banks and Meals on Wheels for distribution in boxes or bags of food for pickup

o School lunches or meal distribution locations

o Children’s take-home backpack programs

o Subsidized food delivery services 

o Banks and other financial institutions 

• Develop one informational contact sheet for the program and translate it into multiple 

languages.

• Send community letters to those in rural communities to ensure they know that the CCP is 

there for them and to provide psycho-education. 

• Create local wildflower seed packets called “Seeds of Hope,” and hand them out with your CCP 

team’s contact info at events. 

Media/Social Media

• Use print media broadly to reach the largest groups of individuals:

o Advertisements on transit: some city/regional buses may not charge for advertising, as 

they only allow state or nonprofit advertisements

o Shopping cart advertisements

o Billboards 

o Conversation cards: postcard-sized with catchy phrases such as “Are You OK?” or

“Need to Talk?" that list the program contact information 
5

Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center website at

https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac. 

o Door hangers

o Adhesive floor signs (the 6 ft. distance type of floor signs) on which you print program 

information for people to see in public spaces with high foot traffic

• Place a program advertisement in the obituary section of print and electronic media sources.

• Create public Facebook groups to share program information, and provide resources to public 

Facebook groups focused on specific wellness-related topics, such as meditation and yoga. 

• Engage famous state residents to read a story for children on camera or to issue encouraging 

messages and post the recordings to social media channels.

• Collaborate with local social media influencers to provide psycho-education on their channels 

(influencers from certain communities may have additional reach into those communities). 

• Write blog posts about topics affecting the community, including posts about the CCP team’s 

experiences working on the CCP, showing that they are also survivors of the disaster. 

• Connect with podcasts and news channels that are popular in your state to promote the 

program and participate in interviews with the broadcasters.

• When possible, include a QR code on materials that will link to the CCP website.

• Share articles on social media, and, in the post where you share the article, link readers to a 

group or a specific contact at the program.

• Arrange interviews between CCP workers and broadcasters on targeted radio stations and 

programs: 

o Black Labor Radio

o Tribal radio stations

o Farm report

o Spanish-language stations

• Arrange for television public service announcements or (donated) brief educational time, such 

as a “mental health minute.”

• Address rumors or misinformation by quoting doctors and other experts in newsletters, online 

postings, etc., to help debunk myths.

Partnerships

• Develop menus of services to provide to local organizations, businesses, groups, or other 

partners. Sometimes partners don’t know what they want or need, and having a menu in front 

of them can help them choose something appropriate.

• Partner with state department of transportation (DOT) divisions to include program messaging 

on DOT electronic billboards. Include website addresses, phone numbers, or other program 

messages through programmable road signs run by the DOT. 

• Partner with hospitals to post resources and hotline numbers in public areas and share 

information about the program with patients.

• Partner with professional sports teams to mention the program or promote the program when 

airing games.

• Have program information printed on signage placed on top of gas pumps located at

participating businesses.

• Collaborate with other state or local agencies to include a link to the CCP website. Such 

agencies might include those providing:

o Unemployment benefits

o Social services

o Healthcare services or information (i.e., healthcare associations) 
6

Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center website at

https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac. 

o Emergency management

o COVID testing/vaccination resources

o School district parent and teacher resources

• Partner with utility companies to include CCP information in their customer communications 

such as billing statements or payment receipts.

• Partner with local restaurants to promote program services and resources. For example, work 

with local pizza parlors throughout the state, focusing on the lowest income ZIP codes, and 

include CCP information on pizza boxes.

• Partner with local museums to create “Art in Hand” boxes, which include curated information 

about art from different communities, as well as tools to practice that art style as a form of 

self-expression.

• Participate in local Pride events to connect with and support LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, ally, and asexual) community members. 

• Partner with eldercare or similar care facilities to add holiday decorations and holiday

messages to building windows. 

• Work with substance use disorder recovery groups, sobriety lodges, and transitional housing 

agencies to help incorporate program information into intake and discharge processes. 

• Provide virtual or in-person education to city council, county commissioners, etc., during 

regular sessions in which disaster services are discussed. Provide information during public 

comment, and ask local elected officials to include your information on their websites.

• Partner with refugee communities by seeking out community-/language-specific Facebook 

pages where they can be reached.

• Partner with the state department of agriculture program to reach farming and ranching 

population, i.e., have CCP information included in their outreach to farmers and ranchers.

• Partner with state commission on higher education:

o Supply outreach materials to all state-funded universities, colleges, and 2-year 

technical schools. 

o On campuses where housing is provided, provide residence hall directors and advisors 

with promotional material to share with residents (typically young adults).

• Partner with the state contractors' association and develop materials for people working in the 

building trades for distribution through their network.

• Present at a state medical association's continuing medical education (CME) course.

• Schedule brief educational presentations with other agencies participating in disaster relief or 

working with survivors, such as:

o Housing providers or repair contractors

o Well and water/sewer services 

o Veterinarians and animal shelters in affected areas

Ideas for Program Management

• Convene collaborative conference calls with other states in the region to discuss best practices, 

brainstorm, and share resources.

• Hire staff from underrepresented communities or those populations you are targeting for 

services. Likewise, recruit staff members who are bilingual and fluent in the languages spoken 

by communities in your state. Be aware of culture and language differences between groups 

originating from the same global region. 
7

Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center website at

https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac. 

• Hire counselors from different refugee communities to tap into their networks to distribute 

information on the program, and have these counselors establish groups to serve their 

communities.

• Break down silos of employees across service providers, and encourage all staff to consider

themselves part of one CCP team.

• Ensure team members consistently share their pronouns alongside their name—this is an 

inclusive practice that can make services more approachable for transgender and genderdiverse community members. 

• Create an online, searchable resource directory that is a database of links and telephone 

numbers of needed resources, including housing services, services to protect those who have 

experienced domestic violence, substance use services, services for veterans, food pantries 

and food banks, and services for people who are LGBTQ+, among others.

• Ensure team members are trained on how to use language lines and interpreters, allowing 

services to be provided in community members’ native languages, and include translation and 

interpretation costs in CCP budgets. 

• Use Microsoft Teams or Zoom during staff meetings to encourage engagement and provide 

support to team members.

• Create a newsletter to send to CCP counselors and program coordinators by using the Online 

Data Collection and Evaluation System (ODCES) database of emails. Mailchimp and similar 

software can be used to create the newsletter and email it to large numbers of addresses.

Some ideas for newsletters include: 

o Highlighting successful outreach efforts (with pictures submitted by counselors and 

Program Managers)

o Notifying staff of additional training opportunities

o Addressing issues seen in ODCES review

o Providing self-care resources 

o Introducing subcontractors to each other 

• To encourage providers to use each other as a resource, during weekly all-CCP provider calls: 

o Reinforce the idea of one statewide CCP with shareable resources. 

o Match subject matter experts from one program with other programs who need 

support or have questions about a particular topic or issue. 

o Arrange for providers to give presentations on their areas of expertise or to talk about

achievements in the CCP. 

o Highlight a staff member each week, on the call as well as on Facebook, with a picture 

and interview to demonstrate how they are also survivors. 

• Develop a cadre of subject matter experts to assist the team leads and outreach staff in the 

following areas:

o Agricultural and rural issues

o Knowledge of and outreach to groups of individuals and communities, such as children

and families, individuals with developmental disabilities, military families and veterans,

and older adults

o Language and cultural awareness 

o Domestic violence, homelessness, and urban issues 

o Self-care

• Contract with community-based organizations with preexisting relationships in the community 

and/or lived experience of target populations. 
8

Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center website at

https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac. 

• Use ODCES data to identify the most relevant stressors in the community, and partner with 

other organizations to provide information on that stressor (i.e., a financial stress group where 

the CCP provides coping skills and support, and a local financial organization provides financial 

tips/assistance). 

• Host weekly office hours with CCP staff to troubleshoot ODCES issues. 

• Host wellness sessions and trainings for CCP staff.

Ideas for Outreach to Tribal and Urban American Indian Populations

• Collaborate with tribes to co-host information sessions with tribal elders and other respected 

community members. 

• Have outreach products made appropriate for indigenous populations by a tribal contractor: 

translate promotion of the call line into Native languages and materials (flyers, posters, 

handouts, etc.), and provide to each of the reservations' Indian Health Service clinics and 

Urban Indian Health Centers.

• Conduct a needs assessment of tribal members on reservations and served by Urban Indian

Health Centers. 

o The needs assessment should focus on determining the local American Indian 

perception of availability, utilization, and ease of access of mental health resources, as 

well as awareness of a crisis helpline. 

o The needs assessment should be conducted by an organization with credibility among 

local tribal populations.

o Findings should be presented to American Indian health leaders, tribal leaders, and 

urban center directors. Compile feedback and develop recommendations, and share all 

information with the tribal groups as well as the CCP program partners, state agency 

staff, and mental health and substance use disorder treatment and prevention

programs. 

o This type of report is a uniquely valuable tool for understanding and sharing 

information about the mental health and substance use-related needs of a tribal 

population.

• Focus messaging through flyers, postcards, and social media posts to address specific needs 

and concerns such as confidentiality, positive help-seeking strategies, and messaging in 

alignment with needs assessment findings—such as "talk to your healthcare provider," "it's ok 

to ask for help," and grief. 

• Add additional tribal outreach crisis counselors to the crisis counseling staff; tribal people want 

to talk to tribal people.

• Bring messaging to where folks gather, such as using TV in health clinics and doctor's offices 

and placing ads through different media outlets. 

• Place tear-away flyers in reservation communities and border towns during the holiday season 

to address compounded grief from the disproportionate number of disaster-related deaths 

among tribal people, and support through the holidays where traditions and family gathering 

may be disrupted.