Mt. San Antonio College

The ultimate goal of the Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Suicide Prevention Grant is to prevent suicide attempts and completions through the enhancement of services for students with mental and behavioral health problems at the largest single-campus community college district in California. Located in Los Angeles County, Mt. SAC enrolls more than 30,000 for-credit students each semester. The college is both a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution. Vast numbers of students speak a primary home language other than English.

While the college enrolls students from a variety of age groups, from high school students (through dual and/or concurrent enrollment) to senior citizens, the majority of students are traditional college-age students (24 years of age or younger). As an open-access community college, Mt. SAC is committed to serving diverse students who have unique and challenging situations, are from low-income families, and are the first in their families to pursue a college education. Among Mt. SAC’s credit student enrollment, 70.6% are low-income and/or first-generation college students. In addition, the college serves populations that may be at higher risk for substance abuse, depression, and suicide – approximately 2,000 student veterans (more than any other community college in California), more than 2,500 students with learning and/or physical disabilities, and a significant population of LGBT students.

The project will implement a variety of activities aimed at four major objectives: (1) increase the number of people in mental health and related workforce trained in mental health-related practices/activities by at least 20% each grant year; (2) increase the number of organizations that entered into formal MOUs to improve mental health-related practices/activities consistent with the goals of the grant by at least 1 each grant year; (3) increase the number of individuals exposed to mental health awareness messages by at least 20% each grant year; and (4) increase the number of individuals who have received training in prevention or mental health promotion by at least 20% each grant year.

Activities will include the following: development of training programs for college faculty/staff, student leaders, parents/families of current students (with targeted outreach to higher-risk populations), and regional high school counselors/teachers; strengthen partnerships with regional mental and behavioral health providers through the establishment of formal MOUs; develop and implement multi-linguistic educational seminars, including workshops targeted at higher risk populations; purchase and/or develop multi-linguistic informational materials, including those targeted at higher risk populations; and conduct outreach to parents/families of students.