Insufficient staff numbers have students waiting months for mental health services

BY Adrian Leuthauser and Brianne Kocher

Mental health services are a priority according to Kent State’s Chief Psychologist Dr. Pamela Farer-Singleton. However students are waiting months before they can see a counselor, even in times of crisis. See what students in need and President Beverly Warren says about the issue.

 

 

Kent State students suffering from mental health issues are waiting months for counseling

 

Jacob Auger, a senior digital media productions major, is one of the many students that dealt with the turmoil of the health services.

 

 

“When I first scheduled, I think it was about like, maybe two months out, a month and a half until an available appointment,” Auger said after he first called Kent State. “At that point I was like ‘okay, fine’ and then they called me back three weeks later and somebody had cancelled, so I did get in slightly earlier.”

 

According to Chief Psychologist Pamela Farer-Singleton, there are approximately 25-30 students per counselor that are seen per week.

 

“This is a national concern in that we have many students across campuses looking for services and trying to get them on campuses,” Farer-Singleton said. “But the demand far outweighs the resources.”

 

The various trends in College Students Mental Health. The numbers have increased over the years.

Kristie Ernst, a Public Communications major, struggled with setting up appointments with Kent’s health services. “It was probably like over a month,” Ernst said. Last year, Ernst went through a “mental health shakeup,” and had to be admitted to the hospital.

 

“They were worried about my mental health and it was a requirement from my dorm that I see the psych services at DeWeese,” Ernst said. “I had a deadline, I was only supposed to have a month or two to schedule an appointment. I had to call… and they were completely filled up with appointments. I was supposed to have an appointment in November, early December, and it didn’t end up happening until late December, if not right before we had winter break.”

 

 

Ernst thinks that with the long wait time, it can become an issue for students that need help immediately, or need to talk with someone as quickly as possible, experiencing it first hand herself.

 

When she was able to finally speak to someone and be evaluated, her experience was not as helpful as she would have liked.

 

“I was like ‘I really appreciate that you’re trying to help your students and that you’re trying to help me but to be honest I really feel like I can’t answer these questions just because so much time has past.’” Ernst said. “‘It would have been really great to see you maybe a month ago but at this point, in December, this isn’t really helpful to me.’”

 

Aside from Kent Health Services, there are two additional places that students can go for help.

 

“There are two other places on campus that sees students, Farer-Singleton said. “They are services that are provided by graduate students that are in training so the psych clinic is in Kent Hall and the counseling center is in White Hall.”

 

 

In addition, Kent has a contract with outside health services, Coleman Professional Services. With Kent having a handful of students, Coleman is able to help elevate the amount of students that are seeking help. Director of communications and advocacy, Kathy Myers explains the various services that they offer, including a 24 hour crisis center.

 

“If they need to be seen that day, by a psychiatrist, then we will make it happen,” Myers said.

 

 

Luckily, for Auger, he didn’t feel that sense of immediacy while he was waiting for an appointment with Kent.

 

“I didn’t have that kind of urgency, but I could understand that some people might,” Auger said. “But I felt that if I was in that position, then I’d be like, ‘I’m screwed’ like… where would I go or what would the resources be for that.”

 

Farer-Singleton said that this issue is a priority for them and that they are looking to resolve it. One of the ways to elevate the issue, Kent has hired three additional staff members. Two are direct service providers and the third is an outreach provider.

 

“We’re in the process of hiring another master’s level counselor,” Farer-Singleton said.

 

Alongside hiring, they have also looked into the hours that they provide services. “I think we’ve adjusted our hours to accommodate students, the best we could. We looked at… the director looked at when were the hours best utilized by students and so we’ve adjusted that we’re here until 6 instead of 5,” she said. “And some of our staff started coming in at 8, just so we could get more students in.”

 

The addition of staff, as well as adjusted hours did help, has allowed for more students to get appointments.

 

 

Check out my latest article about Kent's mental health services that I worked with @BreeKocher on. This is an issue that we both felt important as students are waiting up to two months to see someone about their mental health. https://t.co/a7WGXinuE5

— Adrian Leuth ? (@Aleuth411) December 5, 2017

 

Students are waiting months to see a counselor for mental health concerns. See what the university has to say about not having enough staff to serve students. #JMCRPP
https://t.co/j8dMZ9Fmmm

— Bree Kocher (@BreeKocher) December 4, 2017