The initiative aims to protect emotional health, prevent suicide, and strengthen connectedness across select college campuses and communities statewide.
February 26, 2024, Kentucky and New York City — The Jed Foundation (JED), a leading national nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults, announced a four-year collaboration with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE)’s Student Success Collaborative (KYSSC), and the Healthy Minds Network. Together, the organizations have launched a new multitiered pilot program focusing on the evaluation, development, and deployment of mental health, suicide prevention, and substance misuse programming for select college campuses, reaching nearly 200,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students–or 75% of all college students– across Kentucky.
As part of the partnership, JED is working with CPE to establish and facilitate a community of practice (CoP) that engages CPE staff, campus leaders, and mental health professionals at more than 25 colleges and universities. The first two of four virtually held CoPs kicked off last year with the goal of uniting community members from across the state to share best practices for supporting youth well-being, grounded in both JED’s Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention for Colleges and Universities and JED Campus, while also making space for individuals to share lived experiences.
“Addressing mental health challenges among college students requires a comprehensive approach, including better access to mental health services and campus initiatives to reduce stigma around these services,” said CPE President Aaron Thompson. “It also requires campus-wide conversations and professional learning opportunities for faculty, staff and others. We are grateful to JED for their leadership and partnership in making Kentucky a leader in addressing these issues.”
The collaborative and community-oriented approach to mental health promotion and suicide prevention comes at an important time. Suicide remains the second-leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 34 in the United States, and 14% of college students contemplated suicide last year. In 2021, more than 3 million Kentuckians reported living in a community without a sufficient number of mental health professionals, and one-third of the state’s young adults ages 18 to 25 identified as living with a mental health condition.
“JED is proud to introduce this unique program and partnership with CPE, KCTCS, and the Healthy Minds Network to create communities of practice to help strengthen student mental health supports and resources across dozens of Kentucky higher education campuses,” said JED CEO John MacPhee. “This first-of-its-kind collaboration is about creating safer and more connected communities that prioritize student mental health. Together, we can address barriers to care and improve the lives of college students statewide.”
This month, the Healthy Minds Network is administering the Healthy Minds Study (HMS) on all 16 KCTCS college campuses, funded in part by CPE. The survey will offer a detailed picture of mental health and related issues among the current student population and help institutions identify priorities, benchmark against peer institutions, evaluate existing mental health programs, plan for new services, advocate for resources, and ultimately track JED’s impact on student outcomes.
“We’re very pleased to join forces with these partners to help us identify what our students really need, what is working best for them, and where there are opportunities for us to improve services,” said KCTCS President Ryan Quarles. “By addressing the mental health needs of our students, we will better fulfill our mission to educate a healthier, more productive and a higher skilled workforce for Kentucky.”
“Large-scale data collection is the first essential step for informing campus-specific and state-wide priorities to address mental health needs. We are thrilled to see colleges and universities across the state of Kentucky coming together to administer the Healthy Minds Study on their campuses,” said Healthy Minds Network Principal Investigator Sarah Lipson.
In May, KCTCS and CPE will commence a day-long event in Frankfort, Kentucky, to share perspectives, accomplishments, and data insights from the HMS to inform strategic priorities for their respective communities and guide the collaborative partnership through 2027.
Grant funding for the pilot program is made possible by Macy’s Inc., who sponsored the mental health programming and comprehensive suicide preventative efforts of four KY schools. This initiative was also made possible by the James Graham Brown Foundation, which funded the launch of the Kentucky Student Student Success Collaborative (KYSSC). The KYSSC has invested $214,400 to support 21 colleges and universities to receive JED technical assistance and to support their mental health strategic plan implementation.
If your school or statewide system is interested in partnering with JED on a customized, cost-effective initiative that serves as a safety net against mental health concerns and the risk of suicide, contact Mary Kadera, JED’s Senior Director of Strategic Program Initiatives, at mary@jedfoundation.org.
About The Jed Foundation (JED)
JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. We’re partnering with high schools and colleges to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. We’re equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. We’re encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health.
Connect with JED! Email | X (formerly Twitter) | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn | Snapchat | Pinterest | TikTok
About Kentucky Community and Technical College System
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is celebrating its 25th anniversary as the commonwealth’s largest postsecondary institution, with 16 colleges and more than 70 campuses. With an annual enrollment of 101,000 students, KCTCS is the state’s largest provider of workforce training, dual-credit classes, and online education, serving 44% of the state’s public higher-education undergraduates. Through partnerships with business and industry, we align our programs to meet the needs of local employers. Our colleges are united in their commitment to making life better for our students, communities, and the citizens of Kentucky, which has resulted in KCTCS earning the No. 1 spot in the nation in credentials awarded per capita by public two-year institutions. To date, KCTCS has bettered the lives of 1.2 million Kentuckians.
Connect with KCTCS: kctcs.edu | Facebook | Twitter
About the Council on Postsecondary Education
The Council on Postsecondary Education is leading transformation in our workforce, economy, and quality of life by advancing progress in educational attainment across Kentucky. As the state’s higher-education coordinating agency, we champion high-quality, inclusive, and affordable postsecondary opportunities that prepare students for civic engagement and sustainable careers. That’s why we are undertaking the 60×30 goal, an ambitious effort to raise the percentage of working-age Kentuckians with a postsecondary degree or certificate to 60% by 2030. At CPE, we believe higher education matters — for everyone.
About the Kentucky Student Success Collaborative (KYSSC)
The Kentucky Student Success Collaborative (KYSSC) is made possible through a partnership and financial investment from the James Graham Brown Foundation with the goal of engaging Kentucky’s postsecondary partners with nonprofit, workforce, and governmental stakeholders to address the state’s most pressing challenges and barriers to student success.
About the Healthy Minds Network
The Healthy Minds Network is one of the nation’s premier research organizations contributing to adolescent and young adult mental health. HMN is dedicated to improving the mental and emotional well-being of young people through innovative, multidisciplinary scholarship. HMN spans coast to coast, with principal investigators at the University of California-Los Angeles, the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and Boston University. Our network proudly serves as a resource for postsecondary education administrators, students, researchers, clinicians, policy-makers, and the greater public.
For 15 years, the network has administered the Healthy Minds Study, a population-level survey of postsecondary student mental health, collecting over 800,000 responses from students at more than 800 colleges and universities. The network’s research efforts have expanded into other facets of mental health in educational settings, including the role and health of faculty and staff.
Media Contacts
Justin Barbo
Director of Public Relations, The Jed Foundation
justin@jedfoundation.org
918-844-4611
Sue Patrick
Public Relations Consultant, KCTCS
Sue.patrick@kctcs.edu
859-333-3177
Jesse Osbourne
Director of Communications, CPE
jesse.osbourne@ky.gov
270-402-4940
Sarah Lipson
Principal Investigator, The Healthy Minds Network
Associate Professor, Boston University School of Public Health
sklipson@bu.edu
781-354-9393
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