Grant funding will support student mental health services

A multimillion-dollar grant to help victims of crime will also add resources to mental health services at The Ohio State University.

In December, the Ohio Attorney General’s office awarded a $2.1 million grant to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program. The STAR Trauma Recovery Center is using the grant to hire additional clinical staff who provide case management, therapy and medication management for patients in the aftermath of a traumatic experience.

Some of those staff members will aid students at the Office of Student Life’s Counseling and Consultation Service.

“This grant is a much needed shot in the arm to bring together our counseling staff to provide services to folks who come through any avenue, at the hospital, at the student center or through our doors,” said Ken Yeager, director of the STAR Program. “We are dedicated to providing these services.”

“So what we’ve done is collaborate with Counseling and Consultation Service to embed a couple of staff members at CCS one day a week so that students have access to care when they qualify for services under our grant,” said Arianna Galligher, program coordinator of the STAR Program.

One caseworker is already working at CCS and an additional psychotherapist is expected to start in the next few months. The grant funding covers one year, but Galligher said she and colleagues are working to make sure the grant is renewed next year and to make the program self-sustaining.

The additional staffing from this grant to aid Counseling and Consultation Service is one of several steps the university is taking to implement recommendations from the Suicide and Mental Health Task Force commissioned by President Michael V. Drake last year.

The task force report calls for enhanced and standardized mental health and suicide screening protocols to better guide students to appropriate services, and for enhancement of current counseling and support services.

“A lot of the stressors that students are dealing with have a root in trauma,” Galligher said. “So the STAR staff will be able to not only provide services for students but also provide some training and support to Counseling and Consultation staff as needed.”

The report also recommended continuing to build a “culture of care” on campus that finds ways to minimize psychological harm to students and encourages students, faculty and staff to look out for one another.

For help, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255/TALK (or 1-888-628-9454 for Spanish speakers). To reach someone at Ohio’s 24/7 Crisis Text Line, send 4HOPE to 741741.