Iowa Department of Human Services

Disaster Assistance

For 24/7 disaster crisis counseling, call Iowa Concern Hotline at 800-447-1985.

For the Iowa individual disaster assistance grant program information call toll-free 866-434-4692.

Iowa Individual Disaster Assistance Grant Program

IOWA GRANT PROGRAM SUMMARY. This program offers grants to families with incomes at or below twice the federal poverty index. Maximum grant $5,000. The program is launched with a governor's declaration and at the request of local officials. The Iowa program is automatically canceled when the president issues a disaster declaration for individual assistance for that county. Federal programs have far higher damage awards. For information call toll-free 866-434-4692.

Union and Fremont counties: The governor has activated the Iowa Individual Disaster Assistance Grant program for people in Union and Fremont counties who sustained damage from storms of April 14-15. Grant applications must be received 45 days from the activation date of April 19. The application and instructions are below.

Iowa Individual Disaster Assistance Grant application and instructions.
Applicants must have household income less than 200 percent of federal poverty level index.
Completed applications must first go to the local emergency management coordinator.
Contact list for local Emergency Management Coordinators.

Disaster Behavioral Health Response Team

The Iowa Disaster Behavioral Health Response Team (DBHRT) is a trained team of volunteers who will respond to the mental health needs of Iowa residents following disasters and critical incidents. The team provides services for community providers based on local area needs and may be delivered at a disaster site in an affected community or statewide. Services may include:

Conduct behavioral health needs assessment following a disaster
Provide Psychological First Aid
Provide brief crisis counseling and intervention
Provide community outreach
Provide public information and education
Provide critical incident stress debriefing
Provide behavioral health consultation for providers, communities and individuals
Provide screening and referral for those affected by a disaster or critical event

Local authorities may request DBHRT assistance in order to meet the behavioral health needs of communities in crisis by contacting the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Duty Officer. The duty officer is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 515-725-3231. For more information go to http://www.iowadbhrt.org/.

Project Recovery Iowa

Project Recovery Iowa is a federally funded Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP). The goal is to assist individuals and communities in recovering from the challenging effects of natural and human-caused disasters through the provision of community-based outreach and psycho educational services. Project Recovery Iowa assists with the following services:

Individual Crisis Counseling
Basic Supportive or Educational Contact
Group Crisis Counseling
Public Education
Community Networking and Support
Assessment, Referral and Resource Linkage
Distribution of Educational Materials

For more information go to http://www.projectrecoveryiowa.com/ or call 1-800-447-1985.