Counseling and Accessibility Services, also known as CAS, is a program at Daytona State College that offers students resources pertaining to mental health.
Photographer: Jen Barth.
Counseling and Accessibility Services, also known as CAS, is a program at Daytona State College that offers students resources pertaining to mental health.
The director of CAS is Miguel Rivera, who tirelessly works to bring the most innovative programs like Titanium SI Software to screen students who initially enter the building seeking help.
This software produces a questionnaire called the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms Profile Report, or CCAPS 62. A student completes the assessment, and a form is produced. Once the questionnaire is completed, the program comes up with a ranking as to how each question was answered and produces a document assessing the student’s answers. At this point, Rivera or one of his team members evaluates the students’ reports and calls the students into CAS to go over their responses.
Rivera said that he is surprised by the many challenges that today’s college students face. “More people are coming to CAS for help with suicidal thoughts, anxiety, relationship issues, and domestic violence.”
Some lessons Rivera has learned from the students themselves is that “they are all different, come from different cultures and backgrounds, and bring with them much stress.” Just one session with the counselors at CAS, Rivera noticed, has helped these struggling students tremendously. The students who need more help are referred to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, an outside counseling service that is paid for through the Project SPEAK grant.
Rivera plans to expand, bring in more Licensed Mental Health Therapists, and offer more services. The new space is planned to be called the Falcon Wellness Center.
There has been, within the past four months, an after-hours telephone number established which is manned by a live person and answered up until 8 a.m. “This has proven to be a lifesaving service,” Rivera said.
He comes in at 8 a.m. each morning and listens to the recording of the overnight calls. He recently responded to a call, got in touch with the student, and was able to “get this student who was struggling with suicidal ideation help,” he said. “A safety plan was put into place [for this student] and a potential tragedy was averted.”
The CAS after-hours telephone number is (386) 506-3038