Red Rocks Community College

Red Rocks Community College (RRCC) is a public two-year college serving west metro Denver, Colorado since 1969. RRCC is proposing the Suicide Prevention Capacity Building (SPCB) project to address the need for suicide prevention among its increasingly diverse student body. The SPCB at Red Rocks Community College will result in the development of a networking infrastructure that connects the campus to the community and enhances the college’s capacity to effectively identify and respond to students in distress. RRCC serves a diverse student population of nearly 9,000 students per semester, the majority of whom are first-generation college students (54%) and/or low-income students (33%). In addition, the college serves populations that may be at higher risk for substance abuse, depression, and suicide including veterans, students identifying as LGBT, disabled students, and American Indian/Alaskan Natives. In response to the needs identified, RRCC will expand its behavioral health services to include suicide prevention and awareness by achieving the following project goals:

1. Establish a coordinated and knowledgeable suicide prevention networking infrastructure that connects the campus to the community,
2. Develop a network of students, faculty, and staff identified as gatekeepers who can respond effectively to students with mental and substance use disorders, and
3. Foster a culture of help seeking on the RRCC campus through education of students, faculty, and staff targeted at reducing negative attitudes towards seeking care for mental health and substance use disorders.

As a result, RRCC will develop and institutionalize a comprehensive suicide prevention plan including developing and integrating suicide and postvention specific protocols into its crisis response plan, train 760 students, faculty and staff with support from Jefferson Center for Mental Health, deliver suicide prevention outreach activities to a minimum of 2,900 students, and promote resources and information through culturally and linguistically appropriate educational materials targeted at students and their families.