Harford Community College Awarded Grant to Support Student Mental Health Initiatives

Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland has received a $118,231 grant from the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) to support a multi-strategy initiative to augment available services that address the mental health needs of its students.

With this funding, Harford will increase the number of counseling hours and days on campus; introduce group therapy session options; engage with telehealth options for students; differentiate counselors to meet the needs of a diverse student population; modernize the existing counseling room using best practices for therapy spaces; establish a second counseling space on campus in the Nursing and Allied Health building; offer expanded QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) gatekeeper training; prepare faculty with standardized student trainings, where they can interact and practice lessons learned with actors portraying students in crisis; organize and host Campus Wellness Days; and create and launch a needs assessment to build a case for future funding.

The MDH Behavioral Health Administration issued the call for proposals exclusively for community colleges after analyzing survey results that showed “only half of the 16 community colleges [in Maryland] reported having a mental health clinic or counseling services and only a quarter reported tracking health outcomes for students accessing the services.” While Harford has had a mental health counselor on campus for many years, recent demand has been outpacing the number of hours available. Last academic year, 204 student mental health crises were reported to the College’s Student Intervention Team. With this new funding, Harford will be able to do more to destigmatize seeking help for mental health and expand services to reach more students in need.