Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute’s Center for Child and Family Wellness Unveils Innovative New Higher Education Initiative

On April 10, members of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute’s Center for Child and Family Wellness introduced the innovative “Minding College Minds Postsecondary Mental Health Learning Community,” a first-of-its-kind effort to support the mental health and wellbeing of college students and staff across Texas. The Institute’s Jen Esterline, Tegan Henke, Jenna Parro, and Leilani Lamb presented on the initiative at the Texas Success Center’s “Transitioning Learners with a Focus on Early Success” conference at the Kalahari Resort in Round Rock, Texas.

The Minding College Minds Learning Community will be built around the Meadows Institute’s Minding College Minds Postsecondary Mental Health Framework, which was developed from our work with postsecondary institutions and the Texas Success Center; this framework is a groundbreaking public health model for supporting student mental health in university and community college settings. The learning community will enable 10 Texas community colleges to create the infrastructure necessary to scale access to mental health resources and ensure that services are culturally relevant and responsive to each student’s unique needs.

The Meadows Institute’s Summer Prentiss, Leilani Lamb, Jenna Parro and Tegan Henke (from L-R) presented the Minding College Minds Framework at the Texas Success Center’s “Transitioning Learners with a Focus on Early Success” conference

“Together with our college partners, we translated our expertise in K-12 education to the postsecondary space by creating a framework for postsecondary learner mental health, wellbeing, and success,” said Michelle Harper, Executive Director of the Center for Child and Family Wellness.

“We’re excited to apply this community-connected and implementation-focused framework to support institutions as they create an ecosystem of mental health supports and services that is responsive to the needs they see on their campus.”

The Meadows Institute’s Leilani Lamb presents on the Minding College Minds Framework 

Through the Minding College Minds program, the Institute works directly with community colleges and universities to provide hands-on coaching, training and technical assistance to support the mental health needs of both students and staff. The Minding College Minds framework implements three core components to promote student success:

• Universal supports: Policies, programs, and interventions that promote belonging and a campus culture that supports student mental health and wellbeing. Universal Supports benefit the campus in its entirety, with a focus on serving all students, staff, and faculty equitably.
• Therapeutic supports: Policies, procedures, programs, and partnerships that institutions should implement to ensure students have access to the services that meet their unique needs. They provide timely access to appropriate services for students identified as needing that additional level of intervention.
• Crisis supports: This component aims to ensure rapid response and support for students during a mental health crisis.

This program is made possible through the support and collaboration of the Texas Success Center, Greater Texas Foundation, the Trellis Foundation, and the Texas Pioneer Foundation.

Learn more about the Minding College Minds framework here: https://mmhpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Minding-College-Minds-A-Postsecondary-Mental-Health-Framework-Flyer.pdf