Mental Health | Substance Use

Apply Now: Join a Learning Community to Support HBCU Behavioral Health Crisis Responses

October 16, 2024

********This application deadline has passed********

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, in collaboration with the Center for Policing Equity (CPE), is hosting a virtual learning community focused on enhancing collaborative behavioral health crisis response strategies at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, also known as HBCUs. Recognizing the unique challenges and opportunities at HBCUs, this learning community is an opportunity to galvanize the student population, HBCU administration and faculty, existing public safety systems, and the surrounding community to help foster a culture of well-being and safety for all.

The learning community will be led by the CSG Justice Center, a nationally recognized technical assistance provider, and CPE, a leader in public safety redesign. It will include opportunities for mutual learning through peer-to-peer support and guidance from leading experts in the field. Throughout the learning community, participants will hear how they can significantly enhance their HBCU’s emergency response system to better address the needs of students, staff, and surrounding community members experiencing behavioral health crises. Teams will also have a chance to troubleshoot any distinct challenges they are facing with CSG Justice Center and CPE policy staff. 

The topics for the sessions will be tailored to the specific needs of the learning community participants, but they could include considerations and best practices on resource mapping, community engagement, building a crisis infrastructure through collaborative local partnerships, communicating impact, and more.

Session dates will occur on:

November 14, 2024

January 16, 2025

February 13, 2025

March 13, 2025

April 10, 2025

May 8, 2025

Participating teams will also be required to join a related Data Connections program with three additional session dates and office hours. See below for more information.

All sessions will take place 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET via Zoom.

Teams who are interested in participating should complete and submit the above application by 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, November 1, 2024. A CSG Justice Center staff member will follow up with you by Monday, November 4, 2024. If you have any questions, contact Cierren Edmondson at cedmondson@policingequity.org or Melissa McKee at mmckee@csg.org.

This application should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. 

How can I apply? 

In each application, leaders should outline their partners, describe their program, and note any resources they have for the intervention to work well (such as funding streams and complementary community services).

Staff from the CSG Justice Center may schedule individual 30-minute meetings with applicants to learn more about each team and to understand what supports and resources would be most beneficial if they were to participate in the learning community. After teams are finalized, CSG Justice Center staff will send calendar invitations, access instructions, and supporting materials for the sessions. 

Who should apply? 

This learning community is open to all teams hoping to explore pathways to support student well-being and safety and to divert HBCU campus community members in crisis from unnecessary contact with police. Applicants must have a desire to use alternative approaches to crisis responses related to conflict, substance use, and mental health in place of a law enforcement response.

Applicants must participate as an interdisciplinary team; suggested team composition might include any combination of the following: (1) a behavioral health provider; (2) a first responder (law enforcement, fire, dispatch, or emergency medical services representative); (3) a representative from campus-based programs that handle harm reduction services, peer supports, or campus housing; (4) student representatives, including from the student leadership groups, sororities and fraternities, or other influential organizations; (5) a member of the college or university administration; (6) a student activities or student life director; (7) athletic department staff; (8) campus faith-based or spiritual leadership; (9) a representative from a local 911 or 988 call-center; or (10) a college research partner. In addition to these team members, applicants are encouraged to include a student or a parent or family member of a student with lived experiences in substance use, mental health, or incarceration. 

Data Connections Program

Learning community members must also participate in a related Data Connections program, which includes structured sessions and drop-in office hours outside of the regular learning community sessions. This program is dedicated to supporting strategic planning, data collection, data analysis, and data reporting activities.

Session dates for the Data Connections program will occur on:

- January 29, 2025

- March 26, 2025

- May 28, 2025

Office hours

- February 26, 2025 
- April 30, 2025

All these sessions will take place 2:00–3:30 p.m. ET via Zoom.  

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

Project Contact

Melissa McKee

Senior Policy Analyst, Behavioral Health

Melissa McKee provides writing, research, and technical assistance on projects related to community responder programs. Prior to joining the CSG Justice Center, she provided direct service to people at the intersection of complex behavioral health needs and criminal legal involvement

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in the Olympia, Washington, community through Olympia Police Department’s Familiar Faces program, which is built on the concept that changed people have the capacity to change lives. Melissa brings to this position a wealth of knowledge and perspective gained through a history of lived experience at that same intersection of behavioral health and criminal legal involvement. She earned her BA from The Evergreen State College, where she is currently working toward her MPA.