GLS campus suicide prevention - the purpose of the school of the art institute of chicago's making lives better together project is to develop and enhance the school's comprehensive, collaborative, an…

GLS campus suicide prevention - the purpose of the school of the art institute of chicago's making lives better together project is to develop and enhance the school's comprehensive, collaborative, an evidence-based approach to suicide prevention, mental health promotion, and student success. This effort builds on the success of saic's previously-funded GLS grant by reinvesting in essential mental health promotion activities sustained from that effort and partnering with a set of leading mental health initiatives that will broaden and deepen saic's suicide prevention infrastructure. The school believes that adding a triage/crisis coordinator and partnerships with mental health resources (thriving campus, the american foundation for suicide prevention's interactive screening program, lifeworks' my studentsupport, everfi's mental well-being course, togetherall's peer-to-peer support platform, united educators' fostering student mental health online training, and the steve fund's equity in mental health on campus initiative) has high potential to ensure optimal support of saic students' mental health needs and serve as a model for other colleges. Saic-mlbt focuses on the entire saic student population, including those at risk for suicide, depression, serious mental illness, and substance abuse issues that can lead to school failure. This population totals approximately 3,500 students (75% female and 25% male) from 79 countries. Approximately 33% of saic's students are international; saic's domestic students are 37.3% white, 9.3% asian or pacific islander, 10.4% hispanic, 4.5% african american, 0.1% native american, 3.3% multiethnic, and 4.7% do not specify a race/ethnicity. Nearly 25% of saic students identify as transgender/genderqueer/non-binary, 26% as bisexual, 5% as GAY/lesbian, 17% as queer, 8% as questioning, and 5% as "other". Saic students are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with any mental disorder (59% to 40% for the national sample); any mood disorder (46% to 27%) including depression (25% to 14%) and bipolar disorder (6% to 3%); any anxiety disorder (46% to 31%) including post-traumatic stress disorder (7% to 4%); and personality disorders (3% to 1%). Saic's efforts will also pay particular attention to the mental health needs of students of color and international students, given the unique mental health stressors currently challenging these populations of students. The goals of saic-mlbt are: 1) increase capacity to meet demand for clinical services by creating network infrastructure connecting students with appropriate mental health and substance abuse treatment and behavioral health resources, reaching 350 additional students; 2) increase capacity of saic counseling services to triage, assess, and treat all students, particularly those at risk for suicide, depression, serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbances, and substance abuse issues that can lead to school failure, reaching 50-75 students annually; 3) administer an evidence-based screening program to increase engagement of distressed individuals with significant barriers to help-seeking who are not in treatment, reaching all saic students; 4) increase ability of students, faculty, and staff to respond effectively to students with mental health and substance use disorders and make appropriate referrals for students in distress, crisis, or at risk for suicide; 5) provide educational programming and peer support that enhances students' life skills and resilience and promote a supportive, connected community; 6) decrease behavioral health disparities by prioritizing and strengthening mental health support and the emotional well-being of students of color; 7) address the mental health needs of international students by providing culturally and linguistically appropriate support and care, increasing help-seeking among saic's international students by 10%; and 8) conduct research assessing the project's effectiveness in partnership with the he