UMD receives funding for mental health services

University of Maryland’s Mental Health Services, in the Health Center and the Help Center, is receiving $5 million in funding to improve the availability of resources and decrease the wait list for appointments with counselors to meet the increasing demand of students.

“We had a gift to the University from a corporation and it was undesignated where the gift would go, and I thought mental health was a great place to put it. They need more resources,” said Vice President of Affairs Linda Clement.

Mental health services will receive $500,000 per year for the next 10 years to support students and increase services available. Clement said the money will be used to hire three additional psychologists in the counseling center and 1.5 psychiatrist positions in the mental health unit.

There has been an increase in demand by students for mental health services.

“Students have been suffering and waiting often times over a month to see a counselor and that’s a huge issue,” said Vice President of Academic Affairs of the Student Government Association, Ryan Heisinger.

Maddi Higgins, the administrator of the Help Center, said the counselor to student ratio is currently 1 to 1900 and according to the International Association of Counseling Services the recommended ratio is 1 to 1000-1500.

“We’ve instituted a lot to manage the demand, but it hasn’t been ideal,” said Clement. In order to compensate with the lack of availability of appointments for one-on-one counseling, the mental health services now includes group counseling.

The increased demand for mental health services isn’t new; Clement said it has “been building year after year.” She suspects a few reasons for the rise in students reaching out for mental health services.

“I think people are more open to issues and the idea of counseling,” said Clement. “I also think people are more stressed. All of my staff talked about this issue. They see the stress level and pressure on students facing problems at home as parents laid off and taking out loans.”

Higgins, a counselor on the campus hotline said, “I heard from many students about how they’ve had trouble accessing mental health services due to waitlists and session limits. Students often call the Help Center asking for options while they are on the waitlist.”

Heisinger and other members of SGA, along with other student groups, bring attention to this problem and “make sure the administration invests in our students.”

“We started an initiative, Get Help UMD, and 90 students submitted personal testimonies about the problems they’ve had with the mental health services,” said Heisinger. Active Minds, a student-run chapter of a national mental health advocacy, awareness, and education organization, also helped write articles and advertise for Get Help UMD.

The money will benefit the University by providing more mental health resources in both the Health Center and the Counseling Center.

“We’re thrilled, it’s a terrific development for College Park,” said Clement.