In February 2024, a 17-year-old student walked into the Counseling & Career Development Center (CCD) at Grand Rapids Community College in hopes of seeking mental health services after having a rough day. The student, who shared their story with The Collegiate, said they were told by the person at the front desk that they couldn’t schedule an appointment until their 18th birthday unless they were planning to harm themselves or others.
According to enrollment data for the 2024 Winter semester, 1,201 or 10.5% of the GRCC student population are under 18, but what many students and professors probably don’t know is they can’t receive services at the counseling center until they are 18.
CCD Director Melissa Ware explained that it was her decision not to provide counseling services to students under age 18 and made the change when she came to GRCC in December 2021. Ware said she wants the counseling center to have more infrastructure before expanding its services to students under 18.
“I know when you are working with minors, it’s a big deal. You gotta have your ducks in a row,” Ware said. ”…Not to say I was worried about that but because the center was relatively new and there wasn’t a lot of infrastructure. Meaning policies and procedures, things that might keep us in line with industry standards, I felt like that could be an area for us where we could do some internal growth before we extend our services.”
GRCC was identified as the least-resourced community college counseling center in Michigan according to a Mental Health in Community Colleges (MHICC) report. CCD currently is at full capacity with 2.5 counselors and according to the MHICC report, the ratio of clients to counselors was 5,658.5 to 1, which is over 3.5 times the statewide average of 1,616 to 1 for community colleges.
Around $100,000 was allocated in February to fund a new counseling position in hopes of providing more mental health resources for students on campus.
Even though minors can’t be treated at GRCC, Ware asks that students still come to the counseling center to get help connecting with off-campus, community resources.
“They should definitely come in because we don’t tell people to kick rocks if we see their ID or tell us they are 17,” Ware said. “We are always offering them a consultation. Like, ‘Let’s sit down and talk about it.’ So in that time, me or any other counselor could say ‘Well what are you looking for?’ or ‘When are you turning 18?’, ‘Tell me about your situation, help me understand a little about what exactly is going on.’ So that we can in a way triage and then make appropriate referrals.”
Psychology Professor and Faculty Association President Frank Connor stated he wasn’t aware of this rule and didn’t have an opinion on it.
“While all people of every age should have access to mental health services, there are also guidelines set by a variety of government bodies on how that can happen,” stated Connor in an email to The Collegiate. “I’m assuming there is something to do with providing services to minors. I know our counselors and I know they are committed to providing mental health services to all who qualify, so I have to assume it’s an outside constraint that is forcing this policy.”
The underlying constraint is the counseling center continues to be understaffed, says Ware.
She explained that they rarely see minors in the counseling center and when they do, most often, their birthday is only a few weeks out.
“This is the thing that most often happens, ‘You know you are turning 18 in three weeks, well let’s go ahead and get you on the schedule.’ It’s not in our process to ever say, ‘Sorry we can’t help you,’” Ware said.
When Ware learned about the 17-year-old student who was mistakenly turned away, she followed up and offered support to the student whose 18th birthday was several weeks away.
GET HELP: If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency or need immediate help outside of office hours, please call 911, campus safety at (616) 234-4911, or go to the nearest emergency room. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by phone, text, or chat 24 hours a day. Emergency mental health support is also available in the Grand Rapids area at Pine Rest Urgent Care.
To learn more about the CCD services call (616) 234-4130 or visit their office on the third floor of the Student Center from 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Friday. The CCD also offers same-day urgent consultations available at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. every weekday.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to clarify that the MHICC report contains statewide data, not nationwide.
