Des Moines Area Community College – Suicide Prevention Resource Center

DMACC Suicide Prevention Program

Garrett Lee Smith Campus

Active

2019

Iowa

The DMACC Mental Health Project will be overseen by the counseling department at the Des Moines Area Community College. This initiative will launch with a comprehensive Needs Assessment, followed by specific initiatives designed to fulfill the unmet needs of our students. We will focus on building capacity and infrastructure in order to better meet the mental health and counseling need of our students both now and into the future. Population to be served: Faculty, staff and students at the DMACC Ankeny and Urban campuses. We will serve 3,000 individuals annually; 9,000 over the life of the grant Student demographics include the following: Male/Female: 46% Male / 54% Female Minority: 24% (primarily Black, Hispanic, and Asian) First Generation Student: 62% Ages: 63% aged 18-22; 27% aged 23-35; 9% age 36-55 Pell Eligible: 31% Single Parents: 9% Limited English Speaking: 28% Veterans: 330 These two campuses also serve over 100 international students and a significant number of recent immigrants and refugees.

Goal #1: Increase DMACC counselors’ capacity to serve students by strengthening and expanding DMACC’s network infrastructure linking the institution with community mental health and substance use disorder providers.

Goal #2: Increase number of DMACC students who are offered services and support by training faculty and staff to identify signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use disorders, to effectively reach out to the students of concern, and to make appropriate referrals.

Goal #3: Decrease stigma and increase help-seeking behaviors amongst DMACC students by implementing trainings to educate students about mental health and substance use disorders and promoting awareness of these issues and available resources.

Goal #4: Proactively identify and offer services to students before they develop symptoms that significantly disrupt their academic performance or constitute a crisis. Goal #5: Improve mental health and substance use related clinical services offered to students on campus.