Front Range Community College does not have the resources available in larger colleges and universities to help students experiencing severe depression, a FRCC official said this week.
FRCC includes campuses in Longmont, Westminster and Fort Collins and has a combined enrollment of 18,700 students.
Kyla Antony, dean of student affairs at FRCC, said she is cautiously optimistic about new federal legislation that will fill mental health counseling gaps in the country’s smallest colleges, like FRCC.
“Four-year institutions have counseling centers and have a lot of programming around mental health,” Antony said. “We have half of that in a much smaller space.”
At the Boulder County campus in Longmont, there is one full time counselor available that may be able to see someone in a few days or longer, Antony said. The school can also outsource individuals who have the greatest needs for counseling, she said.
“I am intrigued at what the legislation may bring to us,” she said. “Hopefully, it will help our students.”
The legislation — Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning ACT — was recently introduced by Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. He was joined by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) and Tim Scott, (R-S.C.) It is aimed at helping higher education institutions develop and implement comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention plans, according to a news release from Bennett’s office.
The lawmakers point out that mental health issues have skyrocketed on college campuses, where students struggle with depression and anxiety at an alarming rate, the news release states.
“Colorado’s youth continue to face a mental and behavioral health crisis, and it’s imperative that we meet them where they are with resources and support, “ Bennet said in the news release. “Our bill will help colleges connect students with mental health and suicide prevention services as they work to further their education.”
Students at smaller educational institutions also face a lack of resources to get help, Scott said in the news release.
“Mental health issues have skyrocketed on college campuses, where students struggle with depression and anxiety at an alarming rate,” Scott said. Sadly many students — particularly those at smaller universities with fewer resources — lack the help they need. This bill will help address those gaps and enable students to focus on what matters: their friends, their activities, and most importantly, their education.”
“In the past year, the youth mental health crisis has continued to worsen, with over 40% of college students reporting depression, and one in three reporting anxiety,” John MacPhee, CEO of the Jed Foundation, said in the news release.
“The Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning Act is important in ensuring that colleges and universities develop and implement evidence-based, comprehensive campus mental health and suicide prevention plans to support and protect these young adults' emotional well-being,” MacPhee added.
The legislation would require the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to collaborate and encourage higher education institutions, like universities and colleges, to create proactive plans for preventing suicide and promote positive mental health among students to address the mental and behavioral health crisis. These plans would align with strategies recommended by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Suicide Prevention Resource Center, specifically its nine-part Comprehensive Approach to Suicide Prevention, the news release states.
Antony said she has not had a chance to review the proposal and how it would affect FRCC. She added any expansion of mental health services would have to cover the wide-ranging needs of students at FRCC.
Students enrolled at FRCC include high schoolers taking concurrent college courses as well as struggling families and adults in their 80s, she said.
“We have the younger and more traditional students who are learning about what it means to be an adult and the mental health issues surrounding all those challenges,” Antony said.
Other students are supporting families and working part-time jobs which adds to high anxiety, especially at a time of high inflation.
“Inflation is growing and people are just being able to afford the basics,” Anthony said. “We’ve never seen our food banks used more than they are now. There are basic needs out there from housing to food to raising kids.”
“A lot of our students are dealing with things like that, and that just adds to stress and anxiety,” she said.
