UHCL C.A.R.E.s for student safety issues

Daniel Benitez

The Signal Staff

The University of Houston-Clear Lake has created the Crisis Awareness Response Emergency Team to provide a comprehensive, coordinated approach to more effectively address student behavioral issues that directly or indirectly impact the university community.

The mission is to identify students at risk or those whose behaviors are disruptive or threatening. The team was created, in part, to prevent tragedies such as those that took place at Virginia Tech or Columbine.

C.A.R.E. Team members David Rachita, assistant dean of student life, Al Kahn, director of career and counseling, Anthony Jenkins, dean of students, and Paul Willingham, UHCL chief of police.

Throughout the nation schools are creating behavioral analysis teams, such as C.A.R.E, called Behavioral Interventional Team. At UCHL there are two teams.
Team A consists of 5 members: Anthony Jenkins, dean of students (Chair), Alfred Kahn, director of career and counseling, David Rachita, assistant dean of student life, Linda Conteras Bullock,    assistant dean of international and intercultural student services, and Paul Willingham, UHCL chief of police. Team B consists of faculty and other members who know something about the crisis.

C.A.R.E. was first introduced in 2008 at a conference in San Antonio.

When a problem is identified, the student is referred to the dean of students for initial review and possibly to the C.A.R.E. Team, who then assess each case to determine whether the student is of “interest,” “concern” or a “threat,” and monitor each case.

“The C.A.R.E team not only would react to student concerns, mental illness or shootings, but also crisis or catastrophes such as the bon fire in Texas A&M.” Rachita said.

C.A.R.E. is intended to serve as a means to enhance both campus-wide communication and effective proactive intervention. The C.A.R.E. team will formulate written protocol for relations with campus-wide and community resources, train a variety of responders on critical intervention techniques and strategies, and develop awareness of student distress.

The C.A.R.E. team will operate in a transparent manner to promote critical thinking, creativity and collaborative relationships in response to genuine concern for all students’ behavior and safety; and create communication mechanism allowing for succinct and confidential repository of concerns regarding student behavior both in and beyond the classroom.

Since 2008 the UHCL C.A.R.E. team has handled five concerns or crisis. Jenkins has helped with all five students. There have only been two concerns or crises that have gone through both teams A and B.

“They are a student of concern, student of interest or a student who is believed to be a threat,” Jenkins said. “Each one of those categories, depending on how they are rated, will have an impact on who we bring in from that C.A.R.E. team and then what to do to support the student. In some cases we have to separate the student from the University for a certain length of time. We will work with that student to help them get back in to the university.”

Anyone can report disruptive and/or concerning behavior whether they are a student, faculty, staff or community member by calling 281-283-CARE or by submitting a C.A.R.E. incident report form available at www.uhcl.edu/deanofstudents.