A crisis intervention team is available at Cerritos College, where students will be able to receive resources for problems that disrupt their education. The Crisis Assessment, Intervention and Response Plan will be a service made accessible to students in need of mental help.
“Every college should have a crisis intervention team. I came here and found out we didn’t have it and put one together.” Coordinator of Student Health Services Nancy Montgomery said.
For the past year and a half, Montgomery, along with Coordinator of Judicial Affairs Student Activities Gary Cain, have provided faculty and staff with information about the CAIR Plan to educate them in effective ways to approach students with mental health or behavioral problems.
“With the CAIR team we have an actual committee that consists of DSPS (Disabled Students Programs & Services), our health services, campus police, myself and counseling,” Cain said. He also mentioned the major benefits for students.
“The CAIR team is a resource for everyone on campus who may be at a crisis point or moving in that direction. So, we can try and work with those students to help resolve their problem or provide them with the necessary resource.”
The major goals of the CAIR team, according to Cain, are to inform the administration, staff and instructors that they have a guideline book, which they all received, to refer to when they have a problem with an individual student.
These guidelines help identify and how to approach a depressed, suicidal, anxious, or demanding student, who requires the attention of a staff member in order to assess their situation.
In different parts of the manual, the CAIR Plan not only addresses mental health issues, but informs Cerritos College on cases where a student may have a problem with sexual harassment or even drug and alcohol influence.
A student who needs the proper service for their mental or emotional condition can go to the Student Health Center to seek a mental health provider, where they can talk to a professional psychologist and counselor.
Psychology Director Rita Michelle Lewellen, who in the past used the CAIR Plan, saw results that worked for a specific student who had problems with conduct.
“I’ve used CAIR before and it was very effective. The student was not behaving and got into the program where he got resources and help. He was able to come back to school and is more productive,” Lewellen said.
With the plan in effect, Cerritos College students can be reassured that they will have available support to assist them in the situations that they cannot handle by themselves.
The Student Health Center also provides services to students who need endorsements for food and shelter.
?While students can receive multiple resources for whatever stressful situation comes in the way of their education, the CAIR Plan will structure the way the campus ensures students’ safety and well-being.
History professor Walter Fernandez agreed on the importance of having an intervention plan for students in crisis. He says there are students who need the help when it comes to dealing with troubles on campus.
“The CAIR Plan is something that the college needs. We do have students that come with numerous types of emotional problems that need to be identified.”
They need to be identified not only for their own well-being but for the good of other students on campus.”
Students attending Cerritos College can take a look at the CAIR manual by going to the Student Health Center website and also find resources to their problems by going to the Student Health Center on campus.
