Channel 9′s Allison Latos contacted local colleges to see what mental health services they provide. Their responses are below.

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UNC Charlotte:

-What mental health services are offered to students?

· Initial consultations – an opportunity for students to discuss their concerns with a counselor. In collaboration with the student, the counselor will make service recommendations either within CAPS or into the community

· Referrals and case management – when a student’s mental health treatment needs are outside the scope of what CAPS can offer, students are invited to work with one of our resource and referral specialists who can help them identify appropriate providers in the greater Charlotte community (or beyond). This service is also available for students who want to find a counselor in their hometowns.

· Individual counseling – typically meeting bi-weekly, one-on-one individual counseling assists students with concerns of a personal nature by helping them develop better coping strategies, resolve conflicts and handle crisis situations. There is a 12 session per year limit given our brief therapy model.

· Group counseling – CAPS offers both structured, theme-centered groups as well as interpersonal group counseling designed to help students achieve personal growth and development, discuss interpersonal issues or difficulties, and try out new ways of behaving

· Psychoeducational workshops – CAPS offers a variety of three-session psychoeducational workshops on topics such as: stress management, anxiety, depression, procrastination, relationships, mindfulness, and self-care

-What type of clinical staff is available to students? How many psychiatrists and counselors are on staff?

· 14 doctoral level psychologists

· 3 clinical social workers

· 2 part-time substance abuse counselors (in collaboration with the Center for Wellness Promotion)

· 1 postdoctoral fellow

· 3 predoctoral interns

· 9 clinical practicum students

· There are two psychiatrists at Student Health Service. We work collaboratively with them on shared cases.

-Are students able to seek individual counseling sessions?

Yes

-Is there currently a waitlist for those appointments? How soon can students be seen?

Our system does not include a waitlist component. Entry to CAPS services is via a prescheduled or same-day scheduled consultation, wherein the student and counselor collaborate on next steps to address the student’s mental health concerns. Prescheduled appointments are anywhere from a couple days to several weeks into the future (depending on the time in the semester). We also offer same-day brief crisis appointments to address urgent and emergent needs of students in distress. These are readily available each day.

-Can you provide a breakdown of how many students have sought mental health services in the past 3 years? Are you seeing any increase? If yes, are there changes/action/additional staff happening to handle it?

Academic year 2018-2019 2,634 students

Academic year 2017-2018 2,200 students

Academic year 2016-2017 2,153 students

From 2016-2017 school year to 2018-2019 school year, the number of students seeking mental health service has increased by 22%. For the first half of the year for 2019-2020, we have seen 1,847 students. The implications are clear that we are continuing to serve more students than ever before. Staffing has increased gradually over time, but it can be a challenge to meet the demand.

-Does your college/university have a suicide prevention program in place? If yes, when was it establish and please explain how this program works. If no, is there an effort to create one?

In 2015, CAPS hired a suicide prevention coordinator. This role was one aspect of her role as a full-time clinician at CAPS. She left the agency at the start of the 2018 fall semester and the position was transitioned to a full time Mental Health Educator (non-clinical) at CAPS. This educator just started at CAPS (December 2019). Her primary responsibilities include implementation and development of programs designed to train faculty, staff, and students in identifying, approaching, and referring students who may be at risk for mental health problems and programs designed for suicide prevention and awareness.

-Has your college/university sought any state/federal funding or grants to enhance or add mental health services? If yes, please explain.

We have received grants from the Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Fund and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for funding for Kognito (on-line simulations to educate faculty, staff, and students about mental health and suicide prevention). One grant was specifically for UNCC’s LGBTQ+ students and another was specifically for staff and faculty.

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Wingate University:

- What mental health services are offered to students?

The Counseling Center offers free, short-term, confidential individual and group counseling sessions to all Wingate University undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, theCounseling Center also provides crisis management, consultation, referral services, and programming and outreach on various mental health topics and issues to the campus community.

-What type of clinical staff is available to students? How many psychiatrists and counselors are on staff?

The Counseling Center is comprised of 3 licensed counselors and 3 masters-level counseling interns.

-Are students able to seek individual counseling sessions?

Yes. Students have access to confidential individual counseling sessions.

-Is there currently a waitlist for those appointments? How soon can students be seen?

There is not currently a waitlist for appointments. Students can currently be seen as soon as the next day depending on availability and we always make accommodations to see students as soon as possible in crisis situations.

Based on our evaluation, our utilization rates continue to increase each year. In the past year, we have added an extra full-time staff member to help accommodate our usage and we are continuing to evaluate how to best meet demand.

-Does your college/university have a suicide prevention program in place? If yes, when was it established and please explain how this program works. If no, is there an effort to create one?

Currently, our center has multiple options in place to support students, faculty and staff, and parents who are concerned about their loved ones and prevent suicide among students. Students are encouraged to utilize counseling services and consult with a counselor when they are worried about concerns that may impact their safety, well-being, and optimal functioning. Students, faculty, staff, and parents are encouraged to consult with Counseling Center staff, either in person or by phone, if they notice behaviors in other students that may be of concern to them. Every year we conduct suicide prevention training with residential staff who live and work on campus with students. We introduced educational programming this semester to provide more information about suicide and suicide prevention to students and are hoping to introduce formal suicide prevention training for faculty and staff in the future.

-Has your college/university sought any state/federal funding or grants to enhance or add mental health services? If yes, please explain.

We are currently evaluating our services and student utilization to determine what our future needs are and how to best meet those needs.

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Johnson C. Smith University:

-What mental health services are offered to students?

Individual Counseling Group Counseling

Crisis Intervention

Campus/Community Referrals

-What type of clinical staff is available to students?

Licensed Clinical Social Workers

Licensed Professional Counselors

Masters Level Social Work Interns

-How many psychiatrists and counselors are on staff?

Psychiatrists-0

Counselors-3

-Are students able to seek individual counseling sessions?

Yes

-Is there currently a waitlist for those appointments?

-How soon can students be seen?

Same day or within 24 hours

I am able to provide hard data from January 2018 present. For 2018 we saw 246 students. January 2019 to present, we are at 535 student appointments. We saw our largest jump in the past 5 or 6 years in the month of September where we saw 109 appointments, when September 2018 we had 16 appointments. Also, in October 2018 we had 52 student appointments and this year, October 2019, we had 113 student appointments. With this in mind, we would like to attribute this rise in appointments to campus awareness and referrals from our colleagues and students who value mental wellness. To address this increase, we hired a full-time counselor and we in the process of on-boarding our part-time counselor that will provide counseling but also specialize in alcohol and other drugs. In addition to these additional staff members, we provide additional support with our Johnson C. Smith University Masters Level Social Work interns who provide counseling and case management services. Lastly, our student organizations that target mental wellness provide a safe space for students to share their thoughts and promote overall wellness. For quite a few years, it was difficult to engage students in counseling due to the stigma associated with mental health so we are glad that students are reaching out for support. We want each and every one of our students to be mentally well so that they can accomplish all of the goals that they have established.

-Does your college/university have a suicide prevention program in place? If yes, when was it establish and please explain how this program works. If no, is there an effort to create one?

We currently provide QPR workshops (suicide prevention) to students within classrooms as well as Mental Health First Aid. We were also awarded a 3-year grant (led by the JCSU Health Center in partnership with the Counseling Center) from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to provide this training on campus and in the community. The purpose is to to help break the stigma of mental health as well as encourage students and community members to access services. The program in which we provide Mental Health First Aid Training is called The H.E.A.L. Project (Health Education for Advanced Living).

-Has your college/university sought any state/federal funding or grants to enhance or add mental health services? If yes, please explain.

Yes. Our university has sought out grants to enhance/add to mental health services.

The SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Grant-Mental Health First Aid Training is a 3-year grant (led by the JCSU Health Center in partnership with the Counseling Center) purposed to help break the stigma of mental health as well as encourage students and community members to access services.

The OWH (Office on Women’s Health) - Office on Women's Health (OWH) College Sexual Assault Policy and Prevention Initiative has allowed us to raise awareness regarding sexual assault and prevention on campus to include dating violence and stalking. This opportunity has not only allowed us to enhance services but it also provided professional development opportunities for the staff.

The SAMHSA Grant-CHIP program (Collegiate Health Improvement via Prevention) was led by the JCSU Health Center. The goal of the project staff was to facilitate educational workshops in partnership with a mental health agency, Quality Home Care Services, to raise awareness regarding HIV prevention and alcohol and substance abuse.

Alcohol Abuse Stipend to provide educational and outreach services and support led by the Health Center.

We were awarded the following grants in the past, but unfortunately did not secure them this year. We do have aspirations to reapply. These grants include: The Mecklenburg County ABC Board’s Community Health & Wellness Multi-year grant and the OVW (Office on Violence Against Women) - Grants to Reduce Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking on Campus.

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Central Piedmont Community College

-What mental health services are offered to students?

We provide short-term (typically up to 6 sessions) personal counseling to students, as well as crisis intervention for students in distress. We also do educational events, outreach and information tables. The most common reasons students seek out personal counseling appointments are anxiety, depression, difficult personal relationships, and managing the balance between school and the rest of their busy lives. The most common crisis situation involves suicidal thoughts.

-What type of clinical staff is available to students? How many psychiatrists and counselors are on staff?

We have staff available at every campus during the college’s business hours. We currently have a staff of 10 masters-level counselors. They also have responsibilities for academic advising and academic counseling for students on probation or suspension -- these frequently overlap with personal counseling concerns. We do not have psychiatrists on staff or provide diagnoses or medication management. If a student’s needs exceed the scope of our services, we work to provide an appropriate referral to a provider in the community.

-Are students able to seek individual counseling sessions?

Yes.

-Is there currently a waitlist for those appointments? How soon can students be seen?

There is not a waitlist. If a student is in crisis, we will see him/her immediately; appointment availability for non-crisis concerns varies from the next day to two weeks.

We typically provide 700-800 personal counseling sessions each year. National research indicates community college students experience mental health struggles in larger numbers than their peers at 4-year schools or in the general population. Data suggests as many as 49% of community college students are experiencing significant emotional, psychological, or mental stresses that can jeopardize their success. The reasons behind these issues include home/family responsibilities, financial concerns, work responsibilities, transportation limitations, housing situations, and food insecurity. Under our current structure, counselors also provide a substantial amount of academic counseling and advising, and we are exploring ways to increase the amount of focus counselors can place in personal counseling sessions, outreach, and education. The demand – in terms of students seeking help and the number of referrals from faculty and staff – has been increasing somewhat each year.

-Does your college/university have a suicide prevention program in place? If yes, when was it establish and please explain how this program works. If no, is there an effort to create one?

We do not have a formalized suicide prevention program in place, though we provide information sessions and “bystander intervention” training sessions from time-to-time, as well as information tables and postings on social media and campus newsletters. We would like to increase these efforts.

-Has your college/university sought any state/federal funding or grants to enhance or add mental health services? If yes, please explain.

Not to my knowledge.

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Winthrop University

-What mental health services are offered to students?

Individual, couples, and group counseling in addition to a self‐help telemental health platform provided through Counseling Services. Students actively engaged in counseling with Counseling Services are eligible to schedule medication management with the psychiatric nurse practitioner. The Counseling Services website describes our Services: https://www.winthrop.edu/hcs/location‐hours‐and‐more‐services.aspx

-What type of clinical staff is available to students? How many psychiatrists and counselors are on staff?

Full Time: Two psychologists, two counselors, one social worker

Part Time: two counselors and a psychiatric nurse practitioner, two counseling interns

This staffing encompasses Counseling Services and Office of Victims Assistance that offers trauma counseling.

-Are students able to seek individual counseling sessions?

Yes

-Is there currently a waitlist for those appointments? How soon can students be seen?

Counseling Services does not have a wait list. We employ a same‐day intake model as well as same‐day emergency appointments. Students can schedule intake appointments online or call the office. If the available appointments do not work with their schedule, students call back the following business day.

-Can you provide a breakdown of how many students have sought mental health services in the past 3 years?

Winthrop mental health services (Winthrop University)

-Are you seeing any increase? If yes, are there changes/action/additional staff happening to handle it?

Our total for last academic year declined due to a full time counselor being out all spring semester but the usage is and use interns to supplement clinical staff. There is no plan to add al staff at this time as that has implications for tuition and fees.

-Does your college/university have a suicide prevention program in place? If yes, when was it establish and please explain how this program works. If no, is there an effort to create one?

Yes, Fresh Check Day (FCD) is our largest Suicide Prevention/Mental Health Awareness event of the year that occurs every October. The focus is on de‐stigmatizing mental health and promoting self‐awareness and help‐seeking. Wellness Services organizes this event in coordination with Counseling Services, whose counselors and MSW Volunteers, provide mental health screenings to students on site. Counseling Services also offers several suicide awareness/prevention events throughout the year but FCD is the largest.

-Has your college/university sought any state/federal funding or grants to enhance or add mental health services? If yes, please explain.

Winthrop received a 3‐year VAWA grant in 2010 to start the Office of Victims Assistance. OVA provides advocacy, support, prevention education outreach, and trauma specific counseling to students who have experienced sexual and relationship violence. Winthrop has sustained this program since the grant’s expiration. Counseling Services implemented an online self‐help platform, Therapy Assistance Online (TAO), available to students 24/7 that offers nine different programs for mental health skills‐building and other tools for students to utilize adjunctive to or as an introduction to mental health treatment.

Winthrop has determined there will be no costs charged for gathering this information.

The Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002 prohibits persons or private entities from using any personal information obtained from Winthrop University for commercial solicitation purposes. A person knowingly violating this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties specified in 30-2-50(D).

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What mental health services are provided on local college campuses

UNC Charlotte:

Wingate University:

Johnson C. Smith University:

Central Piedmont Community College

Winthrop University