At the Student Government Association General Meeting on Tuesday evening, Dr. Thomas Segar, IUP Vice President of Student Affairs, announced new mental health resources to complement the IUP Counseling Center .

These additional resources include Togetherall, an online mental health service, and new group counseling services.

Togetherall was founded in 2007 and serves millions of people in the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand. The service provides a completely anonymous platform for community members to help each other, keep logs, and plan goals. The app is useful for those experiencing common issues such as stress, isolation, anxiety, among others. The service is active “24/7” and students can use their IUP email address to register for free.

Additionally, four therapy groups are planned for this semester and are currently accepting new students. Each group will meet at the Counseling Center of the Health and Wellness Center in room G-31.

The groups are: The Men’s Connection Project, which meets Mondays from 4-5 p.m. and serves people who identify as male or male; Femme Fusion, which meets Tuesdays from 2-3:30 p.m. and is for people who identify as female or feminine; Life Skills for Stressful Times, which meets Tuesdays from 3-4:30 p.m. and is open to anyone who needs help dealing with everyday stressors; and Understanding Self and Others, which meets Thursdays from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and is aimed at anyone who wants to discover new perspectives on their identity.

The Men’s Connection Project, Femme Fusion, and Understanding Self and Others are “closed” groups, which means that these groups will not accept new members once the membership process is complete. Life Skills for Stressful Times is always open and students can come and go as needed.

Students who wish to take advantage of these groups can call the Counseling Center by phone at 724-357-2621 or email [email protected].

Asked about other potential services, Dr. Segar said the administration is monitoring the success of Togetherall before embarking on new projects.

“We’re confident this will be a good resource for students,” Dr. Segar said.

SGA President Abigail Hancox (Sophomore, Political Science), who spoke with IUP President Michael Driscoll earlier in the semester about student welfare, believes that it is a step in the right direction.

“I think any new resource that opens up new avenues for students, especially those who may not necessarily feel comfortable attending counseling center sessions,” Hancox said, “is a good thing.”

Other issues discussed include increasing student participation in sports games through a dedicated student section or social media campaigns, National Voter Registration Day, and an above-normal increase in number of students requesting accommodations from the Disability Access and Advice Department (D2A2).

SGA General Meetings are held every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of Elkin Hall.

WHITE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) – The investigation into Sunday’s White County homicide has taken one person into custody pending charges.

White County Sheriff Bill Brooks said of the last six homicide suspects in White County, drug use was a factor in three cases. Two had mental health play a role.

Whether these were factors in the shooting that resulted from an argument on Sunday is under investigation.

These six murders all took place in the four years since Sheriff Bill Brooks took office in 2019.

Brooks told News 18 that the current prison cannot accommodate space for mental health or addiction counseling. He says he is frustrated that attempts to purchase or renovate a community corrections building with county commissioners have not progressed.

“The government is moving slowly, but the public is not, and the system is accelerating faster than the public can keep up,” Brooks said. “We’re never going to be able to afford a mental institution, we’re not big enough for that. And that’s sad.”

Brooks said he saw several buildings and presented cost plans ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. But none moved forward.

“There is zero transparency. Zero,” he said. “Right now we have a building without a council, never designed for this. We have a building [without] Mental Health [treatment]. We don’t have it. It’s not here. It’s frustrating. Three and a half years of arguing about it, and this prison, now there is nothing.”

He said the prison is currently using closets as makeshift rooms for virtual counseling sessions.

White County Commissioners did not respond to News 18’s request for comment at the time of this story’s publication.

Courtesy of Anthem, Purdue’s medical plan administrator, benefits-eligible faculty and staff, and dependents covered by a Purdue health plan have access to certain behavioral health resources. They are:

• LiveHealth Psychology Online
• LiveHealth Psychiatry Online
• Learn2Live

These three resources support the behavioral health pillar of the Healthy Boiler program.

LiveHealth Online Psychology and LiveHealth Online Psychiatry provide online access to psychologists and medication management support for common behavioral disorders such as major depressive disorder, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.

LiveHealth’s online psychology and psychiatry services have been well received by the Purdue community, and engagement continues to grow. Since 2019, Purdue has seen a 250% increase in usage (from 193 visits in 2019 to 496 visits in 2021) of behavioral health services with LiveHealth Online. In addition, the satisfaction rating – 4.7/5 on average – of the services rendered was maintained throughout.

Learn2Live, formerly known as myStrength, is another element of Anthem’s behavioral health services. Learn2Live offers a variety of digital behavioral health services based on the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy. Via Learn2Live, accessible through the Anthem portal, employees covered by a Purdue health plan have access to:

• Personalized and individual coaching.
• A support team of family and friends built by each individual.
• Mindfulness tools on the go.
• Live and on-demand webinars.

Available anytime, anywhere, Learn2Live tools can help individuals identify thoughts and behaviors that affect emotional well-being – and overcome them. Through Learn2Live, individuals can learn effective ways to manage stress, depression, anxiety, substance use, and sleep issues.

To access Learn2Live, sign in to anthem.com, navigate to My Health Dashboard, choose Programs, and select Emotional Well-being Resources.

ADDITIONAL MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

To help teachers and staff

Visit the Mental Health Resources webpage for a variety of resources available to faculty and staff, including resources for all Purdue campuses, information about Purdue Health Plan coverage for mental health and substance abuse, and behavioral health referral locations for West Lafayette, Fort Wayne, and Northwestern Campus.

To help students

Faculty and staff who work with students or have a student at home can direct students to the resources below for behavioral health assistance. Note: LiveHealth Online Psychology and LiveHealth Online Psychiatry services are also available to Purdue students covered by a Purdue health plan. Mental health visits through LiveHealth Online are 100% covered under the Purdue student health plan.

Office of the Dean of Students

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

Questions

Questions can be directed to Human Resources at 765-494-2222, toll free at 877-725-0222 or by email at [email protected] or HRHelp (secure email).

By Cristina Mendez

Click here for updates on this story

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) — Howard County will use $2.1 million to expand mental health services in its public school system, which educates a total of nearly 58,000 students.

At a Wednesday press conference at Patapsco Middle School in Ellicott City, County Superintendent Calvin Ball said the funding will fill a void for children and families who have historically struggled to access health resources. mental.

“Everyone deserves the same access to mental health care,” Ball said.

Of this funding, $1.7 million will go to the school mental health program over the next two years. Among other things, the program aims to make social workers available in the county’s 77 public schools to increase access.

The program is being paid for with $98,000 in US bailout funding as well as contributions from the Horizon Foundation and the Kahlert Foundation, two local nonprofits.

A separate expansion is underway into the “HoCo STRIVES Mental Health Initiatives” program. Ball earmarked $380,000 in his fiscal year 2023 budget proposal for this purpose.

STRIVES brings together multiple partners to help Howard County children succeed in school. The program’s duties will now expand into the area of ​​mental health resources, which include targeted case management, transportation, parent coaching, support for underinsured or uninsured families, and critical care.

“We are helping to reduce the stigma of mental health treatment, standardize the process of receiving multiple support systems, and ensure students have the readily available access they need to maximize their academic success,” said the superintendent, Dr. Michael Martirano.

A 2021 survey by the Maryland Department of Health found that 36% of high school students felt sad or hopeless every day for two consecutive weeks.

The study also found that one in five students, or 20%, had considered suicide at some point in the previous year. This rate was disproportionately higher among black students (37%) and LGBTQ students (57%).

“For anyone in our community who is struggling, please know that you are not alone. It’s okay to ask for help,” Ball said.

If you are in a crisis or know someone who is, please contact the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center 24/7 by dialing 410-531-6677 or texting “HOME” to 741741.

Note: This content is subject to a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you cannot use it on any platform.

The shortage of mental health care providers in Nevada is putting additional strain on the state’s child welfare systems, county administrators told lawmakers last week.

New data presented to an interim legislative committee on health and human services last week suggests what administrators of child and family welfare programs have long been saying: that some children end up in the custody of the State due to mental health issues that could have been resolved sooner.

Nevada has a higher overall rate of children in state care – 6.3 per 1,000 children compared to 5.6 per 100,000 children nationally

According to the 2020 Child Abuse Report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly nine out of 10 children — or 89% — placed in Nevada’s foster care system are removed from their homes due to neglect. Nationally, 65% of children are…

“Neglect” as a classification for removing a child from their home can encompass many situations, but one of the contributing factors identified by state administrators is mental health.

“When a child is removed from an adult caregiver who is not receiving mental health treatment and is unable to care for their child, it enters our system as neglect,” said Timothy Burch, service department administrator. to the Clark County family. . “We asked earlier why our neglect rate is so high. It is a contributing factor. »

burch noted that so far, more than 80 children have been placed in the Clark County child welfare system since August because their parents could not provide for the child’s mental health needs. The current pace suggests that “well over 120” children this year will be released to the county for this reason.

“We desperately need more help with mental health treatment and wraparound services for children in our community,” Burch added, “so they don’t end up in the welfare of the childhood.”

Ryan Gustafson, director of children’s services at the Washoe County Social Services Agency, also identified mental health services as one of the agency’s main challenges. He said intensive treatment options have declined in Washoe County, referring to the closure of West Hills Hospital and the Safe and Growing Project – in addition to a general decrease in available psychiatric services.

The Safe and Growing Project offered free therapeutic day treatment to children aged 3 to 7 who were victims of crime, such as neglect and abuse. It served up to 36 children a day, according to KOLOwho presented the program and its risk of closure due to a lack of funding last year.

West Hills Hospital closed in december after the company conducted a “comprehensive review and assessment of multiple factors, including the cost of renovating aging infrastructure,” according to local reports. The behavioral hospital, opened in 1981, has 95 beds, including 35 for children.

“We lost one of our two psychiatric hospitals,” Gustafson said, “so when the kids (need help) they now go to medical hospitals where they are waiting for a bed in the one hospital psychiatry that we have left. This creates backlogs. And that creates undue hardship and stressors for children and families.

The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that community programs have their own enrollment delays or limit the number of Medicaid beneficiaries they accept, he added.

The closure of West Hills Hospital prompted some, including Mayor of Reno Hillary Schieveto appeal to the American Rescue Plan Act’s allocation of dollars to mental health resources.

According to Reno-Gazette NewspaperGovernor Steve Sisolak promised during a December meeting with northern Nevada mental health service providers do his best to free up ARPA money for the cause, but noted that “the (federal funding) is not as flexible as I would like”.

The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services announced earlier this month that more than $43 million in ARPA money would be earmarked for grants to support behavioral health programs, including $14.9 million for “Crisis Services and Stabilization,” $4.9 million for direct services and treatment, $3.1 million for “Services for Pregnant Women and Women with Children,” and $2.2 million for dollars for “early serious mental illness”.

More than 40 private, public, nonprofit and community coalitions are expected to benefit, according to a press release.

Separately, Clark County commissioners last week approved a $1.9 million contract with Silver State Pediatric Behavioral Services through June 2023 to provide long-term hospital care for children in the care of the county. Silver State will provide up to six beds for inpatient treatment of children who need more intensive help — a move that should ease conditions at Child Haven, the county’s temporary housing for abused and neglected children, which workers have described as an understaffed and ill-equipped landfill for children with mental health issues.

Sisolak also spoke of a $20 million ARPA-funded investment in a 9-8-8 phone number that will connect people around the clock to trained counselors at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The hotline is expected to launch in July.

The shortage of mental health providers and resources in Nevada is well documented. Mental Health America has classified Nevada as dead last in his overall mental health ranking, indicating a higher prevalence of mental illness and lower access to care. In the subcategories, Nevada ranked last for youth mental health, second-to-last for overall access to care, and 47th for adult mental health.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – It’s a disturbing trend at a South Bay university. In a university district, three students died, two of them by suicide.

Santa Clara University students are demanding better mental health resources and college housing in the wake of the deaths.

At Santa Clara University, outside Swig Residence, flowers and balloons are displayed in honor of a freshman computer science student who died Sunday night.

The 19-year-old had jumped off a building on campus and many students saw him. Sunday’s student death follows two others.

On October 26, a 22-year-old Gunn High School graduate in Palo Alto was killed by a Caltrain.

“He had mental health issues for a long time and had been very open about it,” Senior Will Maddrey said.

On November 10, a 20-year-old student athlete died. His dad posted on social media that his son was leaving a frat party in downtown San Jose and accidentally fell about 15 to 20 feet. He died of head trauma.

A group of students said the private Jesuit university is failing when it comes to mental health services.

“School didn’t help, school didn’t help,” said Senior Shenir Dennis.

“Students are upset because we’ve been asking for mental health resources, more mental health resources at SCU since I was a freshman in 2018,” Senior Angel Macias said.

Students said the university’s counseling and psychology services, known as CAPS, are stretched and inadequate. Students wait weeks for an appointment.

“Mental health has become such an urgent issue,” said Senior Angel Macias. “We were isolated from everyone and personally I became more socially anxious coming back from SCU,” Macias said.

A Change.org petition, calling for academic clemency and contracted crisis counselors, has garnered more than 10,000 signatures.

In an email to students Tuesday evening, the university said it was changing its academic policy for the remainder of the year for all undergraduate students, regardless of class ranking, changing its option to pass/fail notation.

The school will also have a 24/7 student helpline available during this critical time. This week, there will be on-site support at two residences, including bereavement counsellors.

“We are in a pandemic,” said Junior Mehak Vohra. “It should have been dealt with earlier and maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

The students plan to hold a protest Thursday at 12:15 p.m. outside the Mission Church. They expect hundreds of people to attend.

Mental Health Resources for South Bay and Peninsula

Suicide and Crisis Line 24 hours a day (Santa Clara County) 650-494-8420 or 408-279-3312
Uplift Crisis Team (EMQ) (Santa Clara County) 408-379-9085 or 877-412-7474
Star Vista Crisis Line (San Mateo County): 650-579-0350
NAMI Santa Clara Warm line: 408-435-0400, option 1
NAMI San Mateo Hotline: 650-638-0800
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) US government funded suicide prevention hotline. Provides free 24 hour support.
Rape Hotline (24 hours): 650.493.7273

Azenith Smith is a reporter for KTVU. Email Azenith at [email protected] and follow her on twitter and instagram @azenithktvu or Facebook or ktvu.com.