The Student Care Center & the Dean of Students Office collaborate to respond to all CARE referrals that are submitted on behalf of the CARE Team. The CARE Team is a multi-disciplinary team that meets throughout the semester to offer insights and collaborate on case plans for high level student needs. While the CARE Team is not a department, the facilitation of the team is managed by the Student Care Center & the Dean of Students Office.
CARE referrals provide an opportunity for community members to connect students to support services they may need. Any individual in the community including but not limited to staff, faculty, students and family members can file a CARE referral for a student through an online reporting system. There are several reasons one could file a CARE referral. The following is list of some examples of why a CARE referral should be filed:
- A student is struggling with housing or food insecurity, or any basic needs concern
- Struggling with a difficult life circumstance or health concern
- A need for assistance with public benefits such as SNAP
- Thought of harm to self or others
- Experiencing significant loss such as the death of a family member
- Concerns related to alcohol or substance abuse
- Victim of a crime including but not limited to; harassment, stalking, interpersonal violence or sexual assault
- Concerning behavior, risky, or potentially harmful to self, others, or the community
- Displaying unusual or out-of-character behavior
This list is not comprehensive. If you are worried about a student, please submit a CARE referral so a case manager can assist.
Once a CARE referral is filed the information is triaged and assigned to the appropriate person in the Dean of Students Office/Student Care Center. For most CARE referrals the case is assigned to a Case Manager in the Student Care Center. In situations with high-level behavioral concerns, a Conduct Administrator may be assigned the case. The following are possible next steps:
- The case managers will reach out to the reporter to confirm the report has been received and discuss the next steps.
- The case managers may research the situation to gather additional information to guide recommendations which may include faculty outreach.
- The case manager will reach out to the student directly to request a meeting, make a referral, or take other action.
After a CARE referral is filed reporters are encouraged to reach out if there are questions or if an update is needed. Each situation is unique to the student and the response, resources, and services offered will be selected to suit each student’s need.
Due to a high number of referrals, case managers prioritize urgent cases and the typical outreach time is no later than one week.
If you would like to learn more about the office and what we offer please do not hesitate to reach out to the Dean of Students Office/Student Care Center by contacting Sonia Falcon at [email protected] or Thomas Ragland at [email protected].
