This piece was first released inHonolulu Civil Beat.
Mia Palacio experienced a deep sense of loss when the wildfires in 2023 devastated much of her hometown, Lahaina.
Palacio found it difficult to cope with the sorrow of losing her town and home. She withdrew from her family and friends, frequently experiencing frustration—over her family not having a stable place to live, over the fact that more people couldn’t evacuate on the night of August 8, and over moving between high schools where she didn’t feel accepted.
The discomfort grew worse as the months passed, and eventually, as the first anniversary of the fires approached, Palacio sought assistance.
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Many students, including Palacio, have faced mental health challenges since the fires, and not everyone has gotten the support they require. The Hawaiʻi Department of Education estimates that over a third of Maui students lost a family member, suffered a severe injury, or had a parent lose their job following the fires, which resulted in 102 deaths and damaged more than 3,300 properties in Lahaina.
Two years on, numerous residents of Lahaina are prepared to resume normalcy. However, therapists indicate that students’ mental health issues keep increasing.
It’s typical following a disaster, particularly around the two-year point, when the initial adrenaline fades and stress levels stay elevated, according to Christopher Knightsbridge, one of several researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi who has examined the well-being of Lahaina fire survivors. Although children might feel detached right after a disaster, after two years, they are dealing with the impact of ongoing uncertainty and changes, he mentioned.
This trend has been observed in areas where education was affected by natural disasters, according to reports from Honolulu Civil Beat, The Associated Press, and other media sources. However, a few years after the event, schools often lack additional mental health resources. For example, on Maui, there is currently a continuous shortage of specialists. Over the past few years, the number of psychiatrists working with children has decreased from four to two, despite increasing needs.
“The crisis hasn’t ended,” Knightsbridge stated.
Two Years In
Palacio advanced with the assistance of a school counselor and later a local group that aids teenagers’ mental well-being through outdoor pursuits and adventures. Currently, the senior at Lahainaluna High School mentioned that she feels more at ease sharing her thoughts with others and managing her emotions, and she is proud of guiding younger students who have also faced challenges since the fires.
However, after two years, many children continue to struggle with depression and anxiety.
DayJahiah Valdivia, a senior at Kīhei Charter School, mentioned that her anxiety increases when there are high winds or minor brush fires on Maui. Valdivia resides in Upcountry Maui, which also experienced wildfires that scorched more than a thousand acres of land on the same day as the 2023 Lahaina fires. Although her home was not damaged, it took her family several months to return because their property was covered in ash and required professional cleaning.
She is less anxious now that her family has talked about their plan to escape in case of future disasters. However, a summer fire near a friend’s home in Central Maui has brought back her worries about the safety of her family members.
“The worry never truly went away,” she mentioned, noting it was particularly hard to focus in class or feel secure on breezy days during the first year following the fires.
In a University of Hawaii study on Maui fire survivorsheld in 2024, more than half of children mentioned experiencing signs of depression, while 30% were probably dealing with an anxiety disorder. Almost half of the children in the research, aged 10 to 17, were going through PTSD.
Kids in towns affected by disasters across the U.S. can connect with this.
In Paradise, California, where the 2018 Camp Fire claimed 85 lives, a long period of disappointment came after what some referred to as the “hero phase,” during which the community united and promised to rebuild their town. Both Lahaina and Paradise faced housing shortages following their fires, forcing families to relocate or stay with friends in order to attend school or work in the area. Generally, students without a stable place to live often face greater academic difficulties and more behavioral issues.research shows.
Many students from Paradise continue to deal with anxiety and sadness, even seven years later, which makes it hard for them to fully participate in school. A year after the Camp Fire, 17% of students were homeless, and the suspension rate was 7.4%, compared to 2.5% across the state. The suspension rate stayed almost three times higher than the state average last year, with more than 26% beingchronically absent.
Aryah Berkowitz, who lost her house, two dogs, and her family’s business in the Paradise fire, faced ongoing behavioral issues after the tragedy. For almost a year after, her family of seven, along with two surviving pitbull-labrador mixes, stayed with a friend in nearby Chico, sharing two bedrooms and a bathroom. Berkowitz, who was in sixth grade at the time, slept on the couch.
I had to help my family a lot and couldn’t manage it,” said Berkowitz, a former top student who was suspended twice following the fire. “I kept it all inside and took it out on others. There were days when I just left class.
Back on Maui, numerous students showed a lack of engagement with their studies. According to a DOE survey of Maui students during the first year following the fires, approximately half of the children reported difficulty concentrating in class or feeling distressed when reminded of the wildfires.
Several individuals have struggled to keep up with classwork or ceased attending in-person classes due to their frequent moves between hotel rooms and temporary residences, as noted by Lahainaluna High teacher Jarrett Chapin. Some transitioned to online education as their families experienced ongoing instability.
“They simply disappeared,” Chapin said..
A Shortage Of Specialists
Maui has historically struggled with issues related to medical staff. Long before the fires, the island experienced a lack of mental health professionals due to the state’s expensive living costs and limited housing availability.
The fires caused widespread damage and increased financial challenges, further worsening the situation. Since then, Hawaii’s education department has worked to strengthen Maui’s mental health workforce, initially by bringing in professionals from other islands and the mainland, and later by utilizing a $2 million federal grant to aid students’ well-being and academic performance.
But recruiting mental health professionals has been extremely challenging, so even the federal funding hasn’t had much impact: In the first nine months of the grant, the state education department mainly used the money tobus displaced studentsAlmost an hour to reach Lahaina schools from other areas of the island.
The state has recently allocated the funds to employ five part-time mental health professionals who assist students and staff, including one expert who provides support during evening hours for students residing on Lahainaluna’s campus, according to Kimberly Lessard, a district specialist with the Department of Education.
Nevertheless, two of the six behavioral health specialist roles in Lahaina schools were still vacant as of this summer and have remained so for several years, according to Lessard.
Valdivia, who continues to experience anxiety due to the Upcountry Maui fires, has witnessed the effects of the healthcare provider shortage directly. She is currently on a waiting list that ranges from two to three months for a psychiatrist on Maui and is consulting with a therapist based in Oʻahu through telehealth because there are not enough local providers available to see her in person.
Although she appreciates having found a therapist who can facilitate their online sessions, Valdivia mentioned it is frustrating to endure such a long process to receive assistance.
It takes literally months just to get assessed (by a psychiatrist),” she said. “I really think that’s insane.
It is typical for communities affected by disasters to face a shortage of mental health professionals, frequently due to exhaustion and insufficient support.
In Puerto Rico, which has faced multiple disasters since Hurricane Maria hit in 2017, students have shown elevated levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, even though laws were passed in 2000 aimed at increasing the number of school psychologist roles, it wasn’t until the pandemic that the state’s Department of Education allocated funds to fill these positions.
School psychologists “can’t keep up,” noted Nellie Zambrana, a clinical psychology professor at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. The study from the university’s Psychological Research Institute revealed that those currently employed are overburdened. One psychologist, as mentioned in the research, was responsible for more than 100 students across three schools.
New Ways To Help
On a Tuesday afternoon in June, Loren Lapow wasn’t discouraged by the approaching storm clouds at D.T. Fleming Beach on Maui. The social worker assisted teenagers in bringing an inflatable paddleboard to the water’s edge, encouraging them as they swam.
Amid the enjoyment, Lapow encouraged the teenagers to contemplate their fears and sorrows, questioning how they react when they catch the scent of smoke or think about Lahaina’s Front Street, a large portion of which was wiped out in the fire.
Locations are similar to friends for us,” Lapow stated. “When you lose places, it causes pain.
Lapow established the Maui Hero Project, whichhis websitereferred to as “adventure-based counseling services.” The eight-week program that Lapow launched more than 25 years ago instructs children on fundamental disaster readiness skills and involves them in outdoor experiences. It also serves as a type of mental health assistance. Healing from trauma can take various shapes, Lapow explained, whether it’s assisting children in forming new friendships or facilitating small group conversations about the psychological impact of the fires.
“We must establish a culture focused on healing and resilience,” Lapow stated.
Lapow’s method has emerged as a popular tactic among non-profits and therapists aiming to engage children who have resisted talking about their mental health since the fires. However, these initiatives don’t always reach the children who require the greatest support.
A significant stigma exists regarding accessing mental health services, especially within Filipino and Latino communities, which constitute a major part of Lahaina’s population, according to Ruben Juarez, a professor at UH who conducted the research study on fire survivors. He mentioned that families might perceive counseling as an indication of frailty, and children could be hesitant to share their feelings with therapists due to concerns about being judged or examined closely.
However, in the study, Latino teenagers reported the highest levels of severe depression and PTSD symptoms. Filipino adolescents experienced some of the highest rates of anxiety. Comparable cultural patterns are observed in communities throughout the United States.
Moving ahead, Juarez stated, children’s mental health should be a top priority in recovery efforts.
The state hopes that students facing difficulties will feel comfortable talking to their peers. A new program based in Oregon, called YouthLine, will train Hawaiian teens to handle crisis calls, according to Keli Acquaro, who oversees the Department of Health’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division. Along with offering young people immediate support from others their age, Acquaro mentioned that it could also help build a stronger path for local students interested in mental health careers.
Keakealani Cashman, a 2024 graduate of Kamehameha Schools Maui, aims to contribute to the state’s efforts in enhancing mental health resources for future generations of children.
Following the loss of her home in the fires, Cashman dedicated her senior year to engaging with Native Hawaiian practitioners and exploring how cultural values—such as ties to the land and ancestors—might aid her community in recovering from the trauma caused by the fires. According to Cashman, the project also benefited her personal mental well-being, as she frequently met with her school’s behavioral health specialist.
Currently, Cashman is in her second year at Brigham Young University Hawaii and aspires to become a behavioral health specialist in Hawaiian language immersion schools.
This terrible, awful event occurred to me and my family, but I don’t have to let it ruin the rest of my life,” Cashman stated. “I can truly support my family, my community at school, and make a difference in the areas I am knowledgeable about.
