The Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) Suicide Prevention Project strives to prevent suicide ideation, attempts,and deaths among students by promoting mental wellness and help-seeking behaviors, to support at-risk groups acrossthe College. To achieve this transformational change, the project design utilizes an integrated and coordinated approach.Efforts include: establishing documented evidence-based best practices and procedures; implementing nationallyrecognized prevention strategies; training staff; launching outreach and support to all students (while specificallytargeting those at high-risk) – who are experiencing substance abuse, mental health problems, and life stressors whichmake them vulnerable as well; and creating a strong and beneficial network of community partners and resources. This program will be culturally broad and informed by direct input from students, community partners, faculty, and staff.
Grantee Types: Community College
Miami Dade College
Miami Dade College’s Project ECHO (Engagement, Connection, Help-seeking, Outreach) will create an infrastructure that saturates Miami Dade College’s eight campuses with suicide prevention and mental health awareness. It will provide training, screening, and outreach to increase the help-seeking behavior of 165,000 students. As one of the largest and most diverse colleges in the nation, Miami Dade College, located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, has designed ECHO to strengthen the college-community help network infrastructure to one that is agile, capacity fluid, and sustainable; increase campus knowledge capital on suicide prevention; and reduce stigma surrounding suicide and help-seeking among a highly-diverse student population. To assess progress toward attainment of its goals, ECHO has the following objectives:
- Objective 1 – Network and Infrastructure – By the end of the project period, a comprehensive help network will have been developed as indicated by execution of a minimum of three Memorandums of Understanding with appropriate community providers.
- Objective 2 – Training – By the end of each project year, a minimum of 200 core college students, faculty, and staff will receive training on QPR.
- Objective 3 – Screening and Assessment – By the end of the project period, a minimum of eight “I Screen, You Screen” screening events will occur (Yr. 1 = 2 campuses, Yr. 2 = 4 campuses, Yr. 3 = 2 campuses).
- Objective 4 – Outreach – By the end of each project year, a minimum of 15,000 students will participate in one or more real talk outreach events.
Project ECHO objectives reflect an effort to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and behavioral health issues college-wide in a culturally competent manner and reaching special populations; and to promote help seeking among those at-risk, as well as increasing the knowledge base of the college community to facilitate awareness and early identification of mental and behavioral health issues. The project will directly serve approximately 16,000 students, faculty, and staff annually and nearly 48,000 over the three-year project period, with a potential college-wide impact to 165,000 students plus faculty and staff. All of the program’s activities have been formulated to meet the needs of the commuter college aspect of Miami Dade College and to provide flexibility in implementation across the institution’s eight campuses, which each have a uniquely diverse student population makeup.
Community College of Aurora
Through the Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention project, Community College of Aurora (CCA) will increase
counseling services in order to better meet the mental health needs of CCA students, and significantly expand training
to enhance the ability of CCA students, faculty, adjunct instructors, and student support staff to recognize, screen
and respond effectively to students with mental health and substance use disorders using the Zero Suicide model
as a framework.
Project Name: Community College of Aurora Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Project
Population Served: Community College of Aurora students: 27% of whom are Hispanic/Latino, 21% Black/African
American, 8% Asian/Pacific Islander, 2% American Indian and 36% White/Non-Hispanic; 63% first generation college
students, over 50% low-income; average age 25; most common presenting issues: life stressors, depression, trauma,
anxiety, family and relationship challenges, grief, substance abuse and academics; six attempted suicides and one
completion in 2017
Strategies/Interventions: Using the Zero Suicide model as framework and building on a long-time
partnership with the Aurora Mental Health Center, CCA will significantly expand and enhance:
- On-campus professional counseling services for students;
- The college’s network infrastructure of trained behavioral healthcare providers;
- Suicide awareness, prevention and response training for students through new online courses;
- Training for full-time faculty, adjunct instructors and Student Affairs staff on mental and substance abuse disorders and suicide prevention and treatment;
- Implementation of voluntary screenings/assessments using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) by training college CARE Team members and the human resources team.
Project Goals/Objectives: Over the three year project period, CCA will:
- Expand the network infrastructure by 5 annually to 15 total new partners by project end
- Train 750 students
- Train 20 CARE Team and human resources staff members annually on the C-SSRS
- Train 165 faculty, adjuncts and Student Affairs staff annually; 495 total
- Screen/assess 150 students annually using the CSSRS;450 total
- Provide treatment services to 150 students annually; 450 total Total Number Served: Approximately 550 annually; 1715 over three years
Columbus State Community College
The Cougar Courage Campus Suicide Prevention project at Columbus State Community College has an overall goal
to develop and implement a comprehensive, inter-departmental, campus-wide strategy for supporting student mental
health at both the individual and environmental levels. The Counseling Center has observed a 60% increase in students
attending appointments from the 2016 spring semester to the 2017 spring semester. Of the students that have utilized
the Center in academic year 2017, 46% were diagnosed with depression and 44% were noted as suffering from alcohol
and/or drug abuse. Strategies and interventions developed through the project such as Fresh Check Day, hosting an
Alive Campus Tour, implementing the Just in Case app and ULifeline tool, in addition to providing QPR and MHFA
trainings will enable a support infrastructure for the mental health of Columbus State students. Columbus State is the
largest community college in Ohio with semester enrollment of over 27,000 students.
The College has a diverse student population, 73% of which are enrolled part-time, 53% are female, 19% are African American, and 31% are between the
ages of 20 and 24. The project will serve the entire student population with a special focus on the veteran and LGBTQ
populations. The project will implement a long-term, multi-phased continuous improvement model with specific goals:
- Goal #1: Increase institution-wide preparedness for mental health crises through coordinated response plans
- Goal#2: Build institutional infrastructure to meet increase in help-seeking behavior
- Goal #3: Strengthen service network infrastructure through streamlined referral process
- Goal #4: Establish tools and resources for students, faculty and staff for suicide prevention in a formal, coordinated effort
- Goal #5: Increase utilization of services by student with substance abuse disorders
- Goal #6: Build a support network with both internal and external resource partners to serve LGBTQ and veteran specialized populations
- Goal #7: Increase attention to mental health as an institutional priority through highly visible and repeated messaging by the president and senior administrators
- Goal #8: Increase awareness and prevention services at CSCC community locations beyond Columbus campus
- Goal #9: Develop suicide prevention resources for College Credit, plus students, teachers, and parents