# Mental Health Emergency Needs in Disasters Act

When disasters strike—whether hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, or wildfires—people don't just face physical dangers and property loss. They also experience serious mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. This bill creates new federal programs to provide mental health support to disaster victims during their recovery.

The bill establishes two main ways the federal government will help. First, it creates mobile mental health crisis units that FEMA can send directly to disaster-affected areas. These units would be staffed by trained counselors who can provide immediate support like crisis counseling, trauma care, and help for people dealing with sudden loss. These mobile units would stay in affected counties for up to two years after a disaster is declared, and the bill requires them to be deployed right away. The counselors would be specially trained to work with disadvantaged communities and provide culturally appropriate care. Second, the bill allows FEMA to give grants to states and tribal governments so they can expand their own mental health services in the two years following a disaster. States would need to apply and show what mental health gaps exist in their communities, and FEMA would prioritize funding areas with the greatest unmet needs. The bill sets aside $44 million per year for these grants.

The bill also requires FEMA to fund research studying how disasters affect mental health across different communities, including looking at whether certain racial, cultural, or economic groups are hit harder by disaster-related mental illness. This research would help the government understand what works best and where to focus resources in future disasters.

Essentially, this bill recognizes that disaster recovery isn't just about rebuilding homes and infrastructure—it's also about helping people heal mentally and emotionally after traumatic events.