COUNSELING AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR STUDENTS

Western Wyoming Community College is committed to support and empower students for personal, social, and academic success.  As part of this commitment, the College provides short-term counseling services in a professional, private and confidential setting, at no cost, for all credit students who wish to address any potential obstacles or barrier to their success at the College. 

College mental health services will operate in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

References: Americans with Disabilities Act; Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA);  Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA); Wyoming Mental Health Professions Practice Act W.S 3-38-101 through W.S. 33-38-113.

Approved: January 14, 2016
Revised: April 8, 2021

Procedure 5460A

COUNSELING AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR STUDENTS

Counseling Scope of Practice
Counseling services provided by Wellbeing & Accessibility include the following:

Counseling - Provide mental health counseling services for all credit students enrolled in a credit course, at no additional cost.

• Provide individual counseling, couple's counseling or group counseling services to foster the psychological and emotional well-being of students.
• Provide educational programming regarding alcohol, drugs, suicide prevention, healthy relationships, and other mental health and wellness topics.
• Provide referrals for off-campus counseling services for employees, non-credit students, or community members.
• Provide mandated evaluative assessments and/or counseling as requested by College administrators and/or the Behavior Intervention Team.
• Provide mandated drug/alcohol remediation sessions for those who have been found in violation of campus drug/alcohol policies. Full and/or legally required drug/alcohol evaluations are not provided.
• Evaluation and assessment for accommodation for the Accessibility and Disability Services program will be referred to outside providers; in addition, psychological testing, psychiatric evaluations, and medication management are not provided.
• Refer students whose counseling mental health needs are more intensive or long- term in nature, or beyond the scope of the counseling center, or beyond the scope of practice or competency of the counseling staff, to an appropriate community resource.
• Students enrolled in both spring and fall terms are eligible to continue with counseling services throughout the summer term to provide continuity of care.

Crisis Intervention - Respond to mental health acute distress and emergency crises during business hours and after hours.

• Provide crisis intervention services to students during business hours who are in serious, acute, or immediate emotional distress. Crises may include, but are not limited to: suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, sexual assault, physical assault, or any other type of serious crisis that may require urgent, immediate, same day or next day attention/services.
• Provide limited on-call crisis intervention after hours. If an acute distress or imminent crisis/emergency occurs after business hours, the on-call counselor may be contacted through Protective Services or Residence Hall staff. The College cannot guarantee the 24/7availability of counseling staff, and in such cases, the College will utilize Southwest Counseling Service 24 Hour On-Call Service at 307.352.6680 or call 911 in case of a life-threatening emergency.

Prevention and Outreach - Provide prevention, education, consultation, and other outreach wellness activities or services to students, employees, and the community.

• Prevention and outreach efforts include, but are not limited to: individual or group counseling; mental health screenings or assessments; limited case management; on-campus or off-campus psychosocial or educational outreach workshops or presentations; classroom instruction; residence hall activities; promotional and education campaigns and resources, consultation with faculty, staff or administration; and consultation or team building activities with various student clubs and organizations.
• Offer advocacy, consultation and educational services upon request to students and employees.
• Offer educational or training workshops to the campus community on various mental health or wellness topics.
• Network with off-campus groups and organizations and collaborate as appropriate.
• Provide students and staff with appropriate referrals to on-campus and off-campus resources when student needs are beyond the scope of on-campus counseling.

Clinical Staff

Licensed Clinical Staff – Direct counseling services will be provided with licensed or certified providers licensed by the Wyoming Mental Health Professions Licensing Board.

• Counselors are responsible for knowing and adhering to the legal and ethical codes outlined by their corresponding mental health professional association and licensing board. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action by the College and/or a report to the Wyoming Mental Health Professions Licensing Board as outlined in the Mental Health Professions Practice Act W.S 3-38-101 through W.S. 33-38-113.
• Clinical staff will provide an informed consent or disclosure statement upon intake of each student seeking counseling services. The disclosure will contain a confidentiality statement and include exceptions to confidentiality established by state statute W.S. 33-38-113.

Records

Counseling Records, Viewing Records, and Storage of Records - The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) provides that student records maintained by physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, or other recognized professional and paraprofessionals are not educational records. Therefore, client files are classified as protected health information and are subject to the Health and Insurance Accountability and Portability Act (HIPAA) and are not part of any permanent record of the College, but are property of Wellbeing & Accessibility.

• Counselors are responsible for maintaining individual client files. These files should be stored, in a protected and confidential manner in accordance with all applicable laws, in individual counselor's offices. In addition to paper files, online records are protected by security features provided by the institution.
• A fully executed Release of Information form will be required when a client would like their counseling information to be shared with a third party.
• Counselors will maintain files for a period of seven years following the last contact with a client. In the case of minors, the record is kept until the client turns 25 years of age as outlined by Wyoming state statutes. Files are appropriately deleted or destroyed after that time.
• All students under eighteen years of age will be asked to have a disclosure statement signed by parents and/or legal guardians beyond the initial intake appointment or crisis intervention.
• Counselors, upon separating from the institution will appropriately terminate and/or transfer clients in accordance with ethical guidelines and assure that all records are up to date.

Approved: January 14, 2016
Revised: April 8, 2021