Office of Wellness and Resilience honored for mental health response to the Maui wildfires

The Hawai‘i Psychological Association today announced Tia L. R. Hartsock, director of the Office of Wellness and Resilience in the Office of the Governor, as its 2023 Daniel K. Inouye Award recipient.  

Harstock was selected by the awards committee to commemorate her work on the coordinated mental health response to the Maui wildfires.

“This award is a special one because it recognizes a non-psychologist who has made outstanding contributions to improve the quality of life and psychological health of the people of Hawai‘i,” said Dr. Raymond A. Folen, executive director of HPA.

In the early morning of Aug. 9, 2023, Governor Josh Green, M.D., directed the Office of Wellness and Resilience to help coordinate the state mental health response on Maui, according to a state press release.

“Director Hartsock immediately reached out to the Hawai‘i Trauma-Informed Care Task Force and the OWR network of colleagues working in state government, community organizations and other agencies on Maui to jump on a meeting to connect. At noon on the same day, the group convened more than 300 mental health providers and organizations on an online meeting,” according to state officials.

In the following weeks and months, with the help of the HPA and other partners, nearly 275 licensed psychologists, social workers and other licensed mental health providers were deployed to provide free, trauma-informed support to those affected by the wildfires.  

“The Maui Strong Mental Health Response community, as we started calling it, has not stopped since the fires,” said Hartsock. “We are in this for the long haul and continue to meet weekly to break down systemic barriers, hold wellness events, and plan for the long-term mental health recovery of survivors and their families.” 

The Hawai‘i Psychological Association will honor this year’s awardees at a luncheon on Friday, Jan. 19 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the BSIDE Lounge in Ward Centre. The mission of the Hawai’i Psychological Association is to enhance the quality of life for the people of Hawai’i by encouraging, integrating, applying and communicating the contributions of psychology in all its branches.