JED Campus
Westchester Community College is a proud JED Campus. The Jed Foundation (JED) is the leading non-profit in higher education mental health and suicide prevention. JED Campuses embark on a four-year strategic partnership with JED that not only assesses and enhances the work that is already being done, but helps to create positive, systemic change in the campus community.
Westchester Community College became a JED Campus in the Summer of 2019.
WCC’s Mental Health Task Force has been critical in implementing the strategic plan developed in partnership with JED Campus experts and advisors.
JED Campus Approach
JED’s Comprehensive Approach is drawn primarily from the overall strategic direction of the United States Air Force (USAF) Suicide Prevention Program, a population-based strategy to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors for suicide (Knox et al., 2003). The JED Comprehensive Approach is also based on what is known about how to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors for mental health and suicide among adolescents, college students, and the general population; an understanding of the student mental health problems that campuses face; and existing recommended practices.
Equity in Mental Health Framework
The Equity in Mental Health Framework provides colleges and universities with 10 recommendations and implementation strategies to help inform and strengthen their mental health support and programs for students of color. The Equity in Mental Health Toolkit offers additional support in implementing the recommendations in the Equity in Mental Health Framework, including supporting campus-based efforts to reduce shame and prejudice around mental illness, increase responsiveness, improve campus climate, and provide system wide opportunities to help all students thrive. The goal of the EMH Framework is to better equip schools across the country to prioritize this important work. Both the Framework and Toolkit were created in partnership by The Steve Fund and The Jed Foundation (JED).