Grantee Categories: Garrett Lee Smith Campus

Touro University Nevada (TUN): Raising Resiliency Together is designed to provide TUN medical students with the knowledge and confidence to identify and overcome the stressors that contribute to substance abuse and mental health issues before they become debilitating and dangerous situations. Medical students face intense stress and experience both mental illness and suicide at a higher rate than their peers and the population as a whole. TUN will build campus capacity and infrastructure to help these students by forming a Behavioral Health Advisory Board and implementing activities including: 1) A coaching program directed primarily at students from underserved and underrepresented populations; 2) A long-term counseling model to increase access to campus counseling services; 3) A series of trainings and presentations for students, faculty, and staff; 3) Self-assessments that flag and refer students to needed services; and 4) Outreach activities that will promote awareness and action for students, faculty, and staff. The programs will reach and serve 1500 faculty, staff and students. TUN enrolls approximately 1,400 students in osteopathic medicine, physician assistant studies, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and education. The osteopathic medicine program is the largest medical school in Nevada. TUN’s student population demographics are: 53% white, 32% Asian, 6% Hispanic of any race, 4% two or more races, 3% black or African-American, 2% unknown, .5% native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and .1% American Indian or Alaska native. Fifty-two percent of TUN students are female and 48% are male. Seventy-four percent of students are age 20-29, 19% are age 30-39, 5% are age 40-49, 3% are age 50-59. The average age of students is 28 years old. Veterans make up .6% of students and .3% are student dependents on VA benefits. The goals of TUN Raising Resiliency Together are to: 1) Grow and strengthen the institution’s infrastructure and network of mental-health and substance-abuse treatment resources and services; and 2) Increase the capacity of resiliency, emotional well-being, and mental health of all TUN students, including those traditionally underserved and underperforming student groups, in order to address the prevalence and severity of mental illness in medical students. The corresponding measurable objectives are to: 1) Increase the number of counseling hours available to students from 30 to 60; 2) Increase student self-awareness of alcohol, drug, and other risky behaviors; 3) Increase student knowledge and awareness of campus and community mental-health resources; 4) Serve 50 students per year (100 total) in a new coaching program to help create resiliency during years two and three; 5) Increase the frequency of campus awareness and prevention presentations to one per month by dean of students and Student Counseling Services, in addition to presentations given by the Drug and Alcohol Committee; 6) Increase student attendance at awareness and prevention trainings and presentations by 10%; and 7) Increase faculty and staff attendance at awareness and prevention trainings and presentations by 10%.

Texas Christian University (TCU) is an establishing a comprehensive program called the HOPE Collaborative, with the purpose of expanding current resources to enhance health-care services to better treat mental health and substance use disorders, as well as prevent suicides and suicidal behavior on campus. The HOPE Collaborative seeks to generate a campus climate change through nationally recognized trainings and workshops, voluntary screenings across campus
for mental health and substance use problems, creative outreaches, social marketing, and integrated clinical care. In addition to the campus population as a whole, the HOPE Collaborative will specifically target students at risk for suicide, depression, serious mental illness, and substance use disorders that can result in school failure. The project will further incorporate specialized preventive services for students who are military veterans, identify as a gender or sexual
minority, and/or are first-generational college students. TCU is a private, four-year teaching and research university located in Fort Worth, Texas.

There are 10,394 enrolled students, with an ethnically diverse population of about 30%. The need for the HOPE Collaborative is pressing as the number of critical mental health and substance use incidents on campus is escalating. For example, during the fall semester of 2017, 366 students presented to counseling with significant depression, 166 students reported thoughts of suicide, and 27 students visited an emergency room due to a substance abuse crisis. In some case, these numbers from the previous semester surpass the totals from previous academic years. Fortunately, the HOPE Collaborative is designed to reach approximately 4,000 people annually through the lifetime of this project. The HOPE Collaborative has 5 goals, founded in best practices, which will impact the university’s policy and processes, the utilization of mental health services, and campus knowledge/attitudes regarding mental health issues and substance use among TCU students. These goals are 1) Enhance mental health services for all college students and for those at risk (Employing a crisis care counselor and establish a “Let’s Talk” program); 2) Implement evidence-based trainings to teach  responses to mental health and substance use disorders (utilizing Mental Health First Aid); 3) Provide suicide prevention training and resources to faculty (QPR and “Red Folders”); 4) Promote help-seeking and administer voluntary screenings (marketing campaigns, “Mood Check Days,” “Sober Tailgates” at athletic events); and 5) Create specialized preventive services for students of at-risk groups, (Training Symposium for veterans, certified more Safe Zone Allies instructors, “First Gen Days” for first generational students).

The Texas A&M University Department of Suicide Awareness and Prevention will develop a comprehensive, collaborative, well-coordinated approach to enhance efforts to reduce risk of suicide and substance-related death for over 63,000 Texas A&M students. Efforts include a mental health stigma-reduction campaign and training to improve the identification and referral of at-risk students so they can safely and successfully complete their studies. The project will serve the 63,000 Texas A&M students on the main campus, as well as an additional 5,000 distance learners located at special purpose campuses. Texas A&M is a Tier 1 research institution with a student population that is 57% White, 21% Hispanic, and 7% Asian. Texas A&M is consistently one of the top-ranking schools in the country for Veterans. A&M is also home to the Corps of Cadets, a leadership training program that commissions more military officers than any other institution with the exception of the nation’s service academies. The estimated rate of college student suicides is 7.5 per 100,000 students. This equates to between 4 and 5 deaths by suicide per year. With 9 deaths by suicide in calendar year 2017, the rate is nearly double the predicted number. The Student Counseling Service will take the lead in the creation of a campus-wide effort to collaborate in support of at-risk students. A comprehensive awareness campaign will focus on the availability of supportive resources to assist students both on and off campus. Existing Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper training will be provided with the goal of increasing capacity to train faculty, staff and students to identify and refer students that are in psychological distress. In addition, a 3-year license will be purchased for Kognito, an evidence-based computer simulation that teaches techniques to provide support to distressed students. This tool will be available for all faculty, staff and students. Project goals include the creation of a single point of coordination for campus-wide primary, secondary and tertiary response to reduce the risk of suicide on campus; to increase the capacity of students, faculty and staff to identify and support at-risk students; to increase the awareness of available services; and to form partnerships with student organizations that focus on student well-being. Objectives include holding meetings with community stakeholders, holding 2 general mental health and 2 suicide-specific awareness events, providing monthly promotion via email 100% of the Texas A&M faculty, and the provision of 5 trainings to the 180-member staff of Residence Life. Over the life of the grant, 100% of the student body and faculty will receive information about suicide prevention efforts and will have the opportunity to receive gatekeeper training. A projected 1,000 students will participate in suicide prevention events. Through this effort, the number of trained suicide prevention gatekeepers will double from 12,000 to 24,000.

St. Petersburg College (SPC), representing eight campuses across Pinellas County, FL, proposes Project HEAL (Healthy Emotions and Lives) to build a collaborative infrastructure targeting mental health and substance abuse awareness. Project HEAL will strengthen a community-wide provider network, implement a comprehensive suicide prevention plan, and increase awareness of and access to resources for nearly 30,000 credit seeking students. Currently, no mental-health centered crisis response protocols or on-campus mental health services exist for SPC students, and in particular for vulnerable populations including minority students, veterans, and LGBT. Although students have access to a 24/7 free telephonic Student Assistance Plan, less than 1.08% of students (233) utilized this service in 2017. Faculty and staff indicate little knowledge of how to help a student experience a mental health crisis. In addition, community partner services vary widely across SPC’s large campuses and lack coordinated efforts. To bridge these service gaps, Project HEAL will achieve the following goals and objectives by the end of the project period:

1. Establish a systematic infrastructure of SPC’s mental health referral and on-campus network, including the development of a Suicide Prevention Plan with Crisis Prevention Protocol and suicide tracking system, where 75% of College faculty and staff demonstrate knowledge of proper procedures and protocols;
2. Offer a tiered system of Gatekeeper training for faculty, staff, and students on suicide prevention, substance abuse, and mental health promotion, where 80% of those trained indicate an increased ability to recognize students at risk;
3. Promote access to mental health and substance abuse counseling with network partners, including on-campus screenings, where the number of students accessing help increases by 75% each year; and
4. Provide mental health and substance abuse resources, materials and events on campus and online to increase awareness and understanding of mental health issues, including promotion of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, where 75% of students, faculty, and staff indicate an awareness of community resources and where to turn for help.

Leading the program is a Project Taskforce of key College personnel experienced in mental health promotion and high-risk populations, students representing high-risk populations, and new and existing community mental health agency partners to ensure a robust network of providers and referral sources for students, These partners, along with former GLS grantees, will inform program planning, activities, and best practices in evidencebased care. Over a period of three years, Project HEAL will train approximately 845 faculty, staff, and students in a Gatekeeper model and SPC mental health resources to increase student utilization of community mental health resources and referrals. More than 3,000 students will be reached through on-campus awareness and screening events. Finally, over 2,370 students will seek help through the Student Assistance Plan and other community resources. SPC pursues these goals with the belief that supporting mental health is everyone’s charge, and that one death as a result of substance abuse, mental illness, or suicide is one too many. 

The Southern Arkansas University (SAU) Suicide Prevention and Awareness Program will develop a more comprehensive suicide prevention and substance awareness program on the SAU campus. This plan will consist of a multifaceted approach to its Suicide Prevention and Awareness Program. It will encompass training for faculty, staff, and students; awareness and education activities; surveys and assessments; accreditation process for counseling professionals; establishment and dissemination of a suicide prevention plan for the campus; creation of a suicide support network, and reactivating the Crisis Response Team (CRT). Southern Arkansas University’s 2017 fall enrollment is more than 4,600 students, this includes approximately 900 graduate students. Nearly 2,000 students reside in campus housing. Students mainly come from within a 100 mile radius, and 70% originate from within the state. Forty-three percent of the student body comes from a family household earning less than $24,000 annually. Student population is comprised of 54% female and 46% male; 58% White, 23% African American, and less than 5% Hispanic, Asian and other ethnicities. Non U.S. Citizens represent 14% of the student body. The Suicide Prevention and Awareness Program has four main goals. Goal one is to develop infrastructure for support referrals to campus and community based services designed to prevent suicide while improving the efficiency by which follow up interventions are carried out. This goal will be accomplished by hiring a full time coordinator, developing and disseminating resources and creating a variety of specialized teams within the SAU system and local community. Goal two is to annually assess the campus needs concerning mental health, substance abuse, and suicide risk. This goal will be carried out by administering regular assessments, screenings and surveys on campus. Results will be utilized to assess campus needs and target education and awareness campaigns regarding those needs. Goal three is to improve the suicide prevention training practices among faculty, staff, students, and at risk populations on the SAU campus. Key students and personnel will receive specialized training in suicide prevention and substance abuse, approximately 510 people.* Goal four is to build a campus culture of consistent messaging around the issues of substance abuse prevention, mental health access and suicide prevention. Information will be distributed to over 4,000 students throughout the duration of the project to deliberately reduce stigmatization of behavioral health services and to provide information about available resources. Campus, local, regional, and national resources will be accessible in the Counseling Center, on the website and distributed to parents and students. On-campus activities will be planned in collaboration with student organizations, the Counseling Center, and the local community regarding suicide awareness, prevention and substance abuse education.

This comprehensive project is designed to improve the mental health for all San Jose State University students using the public health approach. A caring, connected, and informed SJSU, filled with 850 Gatekeepers, 7,000 mental health informed individuals, 250 peer-lead outreach activities, and 100 community partners, will be created to increase service capacity, early identification, and treatment engagement for all students by August 2021. The objectives for this project are developed based on the key unmet mental health needs for SJSU students: Underdeveloped network infrastructure and low service capacity, low numbers of trained gatekeepers to effectively respond to students with mental health needs or in crisis, lack of early identification mechanisms for mental health and substance use disorders, and low help-seeking and treatment engagement rates. We plan to meet these needs by implementing eight evidence-supported activities:

1. Strengthening the current network infrastructure and increasing service capacity,
2. Increasing numbers of trained gatekeepers on campus,
3. Providing mental health and substance use disorder screenings,
4. Increasing SJSU CAPS outreach activities through peer programs,
5. Promoting linkage to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline,
6. Hiring a Community Mental Health Coordinator (CMHC),
7. Assessing and systematically improving SJSU’s suicide prevention and intervention efforts using JED Campus program (an approach and an SPRC/Suicide Prevention Resource Center Best Practice Registry program), and
8. Increasing student engagement in activities for improving wellness, reducing suicide, and reducing mental health and substance use disorders through mini-grants.

We will strive for culturally responsive and inclusive practices in all aspects of our project and project activities. We will also use data-driven analyses to identify service and outcome disparities and areas of improvements for all project activities. Finally, we aim at creating sustainable and systematic changes through building partnership and community through collaborative and coordinated efforts.

The purpose of this project is to develop St. Johns University infrastructure and ability to implement a comprehensive
collaborative and coordinated community based approach to preventing and addressing mental health concerns on
campus. This project will 1. Modify SJUs mental health initiatives in particular our gatekeeper program and suicide
prevention media campaign to incorporate an understanding of the cultural context of mental concerns existing cultural
strengths and resources that can assist with addressing mental health concerns as well as understanding the pattern of
help seeking behaviors and barriers that are unique to underserved minority populations. 2. Implement a multifaceted
university wide screening process which includes anonymous online screenings use of the American Foundation for
Suicide Preventions Interactive Screening Program as well as integrating mental health screenings throughout offices
within Student Wellness. 3. Enhance and expand mental health services through by establishing the SJUs Mental Health
Prevention and Response Community Network. Furthermore we will strengthen our referral process to outside providers
by standardizing our procedures and protocol as well as following up with students and providers to ensure a successful
referral was made. To augment our after hours services we will develop the SJU Helpline for students in distress.

The Rollins College Suicide Prevention Project will increase institutional capacity to implement, sustain, and improve effective identification, intervention and prevention services for students at risk for the development of suicidal behavior, serious mental illness, and/or substance related overuse or injury. The primary purpose of this project is to build necessary infrastructure to allow the Rollins Wellness Center to effectively respond to an alarming rate of suicidal ideation and mental illness among students on campus. While this project will aim to address the entire campus’ vulnerability to suicide and substance use disorders, there are several populations identified as being particularly vulnerable. These include a growing number of students of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students; student veterans; and those with pre-existing mental health conditions.

The project’s overall goal of building a comprehensive, collaborative, well-coordinated, and evidence-based approach to suicide prevention will be achieved through six key activities over the three-year period:

1. creating a network infrastructure to link Rollins College with appropriate care providers from the community;
2. training gatekeepers (students, faculty, and staff) to respond effectively to those at-risk for suicide
3. administering effective voluntary screenings and assessments;
4. providing outreach and information to promote suicide prevention efforts, encourage help-seeking, and increase awareness of crisis resources;
5. providing mental and substance use disorders prevention and treatment services to college students by employing appropriately trained staff; and
6. developing and supporting evidence-based and emerging best practices, including a focus on culturally and linguistically appropriate care.

The activities undertaken will support an estimated 3,200 college students, staff, and faculty annually and over 5,000 students throughout the life of the project. The project will focus on the following core strategies: development of an advisory board of on- and off-campus care providers and experts in suicide and mental health; enhancing the existing QPR Gatekeeper program, including the addition of supplemental gatekeeper programs (i.e., Mental Health First Aid); increased promotion of screening tools currently in place; implementation of universal screening for depression, anxiety and suicide ideation at all Rollins Wellness Center appointments; and extensive outreach aimed at increasing help-seeking, decreasing high-risk behaviors such as binge drinking, and increasing awareness of resources. The project will also conduct focus group research with students from identified high-risk populations to increase awareness and understanding of the unique needs, barriers and protective factors of, and most effective strategies for reaching these targeted students. Lastly, the project will adopt evidence-based practices focused on the mental health and well-being of college students of color and train all Wellness Center mental health providers to engage in culturally competent, best practice treatment of suicide, severe mental health and substance abuse.

Project Abstract Riverside City College’s Student Health and Psychological Services serves almost 30,000 students annually. Current gaps in mental health/suicide prevention services are due to: limited staff; limited education/training for faculty/staff on mental health issues; and failure to connect with underserved students. With SAMHSA funds RCC will execute new suicide prevention activities and interventions to reduce the risk of suicide campus-wide. Project Name: RCC’s SAMHSA Project. Population(s) to be served (demographics and clinical characteristics): The entire population of RCC. Specific populations that will be targeted include: low-income, first generation college students, LGBTQI individuals, disabled students, and veterans. Strategies/interventions: A Mental Health Model for Suicide Prevention. Student In-Crisis: (1) if it is determined that the patient is in crisis the therapist may extend the visit with the student for up to 1 hour; (2) at the conclusion of the visit, the therapist may refer the student to one or all of the following: wellness workshops, and/or refer patient to Community Resources Refer patient to LLUDP services-for follow up appointments; (3) the Campus Police will transport the student to the hospital for a Psychiatric (5150) hold. Student Not In-Crisis: (1) referred to Wellness Workshops (topics include stress management, depression, and health relationships). The Mental Health Therapist offers workshops 5 days/week; (2) referred to Loma Linda Doctoral Psychological (LLDP) trainee who is available M, T, W, and F for 4 hours daily; and/or (3) referred patient to Community Resources: (a) Riverside University Health System-Behavioral Health: One-Stop Shop CARES Line; (b) University Community Health Center; (c) 24-hour Crisis Hotline; (d) 211 or Connectriverside.org; and (e) Housing and Homeless Shelters; and/or (f) National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Project goals: RCC’s goal is to expand mental health services and meet the critical needs of our increasing student population. The overarching goal of this project is to provide a comprehensive public health approach to the issue of suicide prevention. RCC proposes to establish a suicide prevention project that will provide effective gatekeeper and awareness training programs for faculty, staff, and students, and design a crisis intervention plan. Measurable objectives: (1) Train 100 faculty and staff on how to recognize and manage students experiencing mental health distress by end of the grant; and (2) Train 2,000 students to recognize the symptoms of mental health distress by the end of the grant.