SIUE PREPARE: Preparing Responders through Education, Prevention, Awareness, Resource Navigation, and Engagement - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) will implement SIUE PREPARE (Preparing Responders through Education, Prevention, Awareness, Resource Navigation, and Engagement), a 3-year initiative serving its campus and the Metro East region of southwestern Illinois. The project will strengthen mental health awareness, suicide prevention, early identification, crisis preparedness, helping behaviors, and referral capacity for SIUE’s more than 12,800 students. Capacity-building activities will engage students, faculty, staff, resident assistants, student leaders and peer educators, student-athletes, military-connected students and veterans, academic advisors, campus safety personnel, future healthcare and education professionals, and community partners. A tiered framework will include Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR); QPR Gatekeeper Pro; Adult, Youth, and Higher Education Mental Health First Aid; Certified Peer Educator programming; and a Care Liaison network for faculty and staff. SIUE will certify 9 additional Mental Health First Aid instructors and train at least 3,300 unduplicated participants. It will also formalize campus-community behavioral health partnerships and implement standardized resource guides, referral protocols, and warm handoff procedures to improve timely connections to care, particularly for students ages 18–29 experiencing or at risk for mental health and substance use concerns.
