University/College Mental Health Resources

University/College Mental Health Resources

There is heightened awareness of the importance of having quality mental health services available for students on university and college campuses. At present, access to such services is not consistently found across the country. There are numerous reasons for this including stigma, inadequate financial investment in mental health services, as well as the difficulty of coordinating the delivery and provision of mental health services in higher education settings. The following resources are provided as a tool to help students and parents get needed care for students with mental health conditions. Also included are resources for administrators and counseling services, which parents and students can provide as an advocacy tool to improve mental health services on campuses.

Resources for Parents & Students

• National Resources
  http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/help/find-national-resources

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
  http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
  24 hour hotline

• Mental Health America screenings for depression and other mental health conditions
  http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/help/
  Click on the Take a Screening link under Finding Help

• mpower fact sheets
  http://www.mpoweryouth.org/411.htm
  mpower is a youth awareness campaign that helps fight stigma

• The Virginia Tech Tragedy: Tips and Resources
  http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/about-us/pressroom/press-kits/virginia-tech

• Active Minds
  http://www.activemindsoncampus.org/
  Peer to Peer student support and advocacy group on college campuses

• NAMI on Campus
  http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Find_Support/NAMI_on_Campus1/NAMI_on_Campus.htm
  Student-run organizations that provide support, education, and advocacy

• Disability and Civil Rights Resources http://www.bazelon.org/issues/education/StudentsandMentalHealth.htm#2
  Explains rights under ADA and how to file a discrimination complaint

• Education and Community Integration
  http://www.upennrrtc.org/issues/view.php?id=6
  Overview of importance of community integration for those with mental health conditions

• Community Integration Tools
  http://www.upennrrtc.org/var/tool/file/26-CollegeFS.pdf
  The College Experience: Tips for Reducing Stress and Getting the Accommodations You Need

• Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation
  http://www.bu.edu/cpr/reasaccom/index.html#top
  Information on reasonable accommodations

• Job Accommodation Network
  http://www.jan.wvu.edu/portals/ed.htm
  Section on accommodations in educational settings

• Association on Higher Education and Disability
  http://www.ahead.org/

• Office of Civil Rights, Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintprocess.html
  Complaint form and procedures

Resources for College & University Administrators

• Depression on College Campuses Conference
  http://www.med.umich.edu/depression/docc/2007/index.htm
  The 2007 conference agenda focused on practical approaches and new strategies for dealing with depression and its consequences on campus. 

• Model Mental Health Services Policy Statements http://www.bazelon.org/pdf/SupportingStudents.pdf
  Resource to help schools create effective mental health policies

• Framework for Developing Institutional Mental Health Protocols http://www.bazelon.org/pdf/SupportingStudents.pdf
  Questions and suggestions to guide administrators on their mental health system

• Case studies, Higher Education Center
  http://www.higheredcenter.org/casestudies
  Examples of forward-looking programs

• Surgeon General’s Report, 1999, by Surgeon General David Satcher http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/pdfs/c7.pdf
  See Ch. 7, ‘Confidentiality of Mental Health Information’

• Virginia legislation relating to policies for addressing suicidal students
  http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071%2Bful%2BHB3064ER

• Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation
  http://www.bu.edu/cpr/reasaccom/index.html
  Information on reasonable accommodations

• SAMHSA grants webpage
  http://www.samhsa.gov/Grants/2008/fy2008opps.aspx

• Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
  http://www.naspa.org/about/index.cfm
  Professional association for administrators

• ACHA-National College Health Assessment (NCHA)
  http://www.acha-ncha.org/pubs_rpts.html
  Research survey reports on student health habits, behaviors, and perceptions

Trauma Resources

• Understanding Mental Illness After the Virginia Tech Tragedy http://www.samhsa.gov/MentalHealth/understanding_Mentalllness.aspx
  Tips for dealing with trauma as well as educational resources

• Higher Education Resources on Violence
  http://www.higheredcenter.org/violence/

• Preventing Violence and Promoting Safety in Higher Education Settings
  http://www.higheredcenter.org/pubs/violence.pdf

Resources for University Counseling Services

Statistics

• College Mental Health Statistics
  http://www.healthyminds.org/collegestats.cfm

Regulations

• SAMHSA explains HIPAA and its interpretation for mental health services http://www.hipaa.samhsa.gov/

• FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
  http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

Accreditation

• International Association of Counseling Services, Inc. http://iacsinc.org/Accreditation%20Standards.htm

• American College Health Association
  http://www.acha.org/

• The Joint Commission
  http://www.jointcommission.org/

• Association for University and College Counseling Directors
  http://www.aucccd.org/

• DFSCA Campus Regulations
  http://www.higheredcenter.org/dfsca/
  Description of AOD information distribution requirements

Evaluation Resources

• Guide by Department of Education
  http://www.ed.gov/PDFDocs/handbook.pdf
  A guide to evaluating drug and alcohol prevention projects

• Resources through the Higher Education Center
  http://www.higheredcenter.org/eval/links.html

Mental Health Screening Tools

• Screening For Mental Health
  http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/index.aspx
  A non-profit with college screening programs

• Teenscreen
  http://www.teenscreen.org/
  Columbia University’s mental health screening program

• Ulifeline
  http://www.ulifeline.org/main/Home.html
  An online mental health screening