Elsaesser

Renae Elsaesser
IR I 10GT/2
12/16/19
Interviewer: Renae Elsaesser
Interviewee: Colleen Nester, licensed clinical social worker at the Howard County Department
of Health
Interview Setting: Interview conducted on 11/18/19 at 3:45 pm through the phone.
Affiliation: Interviewer has been my leader in the Sources of Strength program for the past
meetings.
Interviewer: My name is Renae Elsaesser and I am a sophomore at River Hill High School,
enrolled in an Independent Research course at my school in which we choose an area of
interest for extensive research. This course gives me the opportunity to write a paper and
create a final product that will make an impact in my community. Early this year I visited
Help Center, a peer counseling crisis intervention hotline at the University of Maryland
dedicated to helping anyone whether it is through the phone or a walk in. After visiting
Help Center, I learned a lot more about the lack of resources provided to students on
college campus. My sister informed me that if a student reaches out to the university for
help, the university calls the police to handcuff the student and takes them to the hospital.
The lack of mental health crisis services in College Park results in law enforcement serving
as first responders for suicidal students, even while research has shown that most police
officers have insufficient mental health training. I am hoping to research more about what
other colleges throughout the country are doing and what procedures the University of
Maryland can implement to ensure the safety and wellbeing of suicidal students. I
remember you as a leader from the Sources of Strength program and I was wondering if
you would be willing to answer these few questions I have in the scope of my topic.
Interviewee: Hi Renae, Great to hear from you and quite impressed by your topic for IR! I can
provide you with some information/responses but am afraid I don't have all of the answers you're
looking for. Scroll down below for my answers to your questions and let me know if you'd like
to connect by phone or in person to chat more! One comment: The experience you reference at
College Park makes me wonder if she is describing a student who presents as suicidal. When
someone who is in danger of hurting themselves or someone else presents to counseling (or other
staff) and that person does not wish to safety plan or accept help, the counselor or staff/provider
may pursue something called an Emergency Petition (EP). In those extreme cases, the person is
transported by law enforcement to the hospital for evaluation. For obvious reasons it is a
controversial practice. Below are 2 links with some info on the EP process for context:
http://www.namimd.org/uploaded_files/3/What_to_do_in_a_Psychiatric_Crisis_PDF_for_Web.p
df
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2289026
Interviewer: How practical do you think it is to build an on campus treatment center?
Interviewee: Quite practical! Many campuses have some form of a counseling center with
qualified staff to support students.
Interviewer: How much money do you think it would cost and where would this money
come from?
Interviewee: I don't have an answer on this one, sorry

Interviewer:How did you come upon sources of strength? When did you start getting
involved with it?
Interviewee: I learned about SOS in 2016 when another County in MD presented on it at the
Maryland Annual Suicide Prevention Conference. I really liked the peer leader component and
the concept of using the youth voice and social network to influence positive change. It has been
on my radar ever since! When we established the Youth Suicide Prevention Plan at the Health
Department last year it was the perfect opportunity to explore bringing the program to Howard
County.
Interviewer: Are you involved in AFSP for Maryland? How did you become interested in
your field?
Interviewee: I'm not involved with AFSP, though we consult with them for guidance on suicide
prevention practices and materials. Kayla Blasher (another SOS advisor) is a trainer for AFSP
and was trained as a Talk Saves Live facilitator. In terms of my own interest in the field, ever
since I was young I have enjoyed working with children. In high school I started looking at
career fields that would allow me to use my natural skill set (empathy, desire to help
youth/families) and considered psychology and social work as primary options.
Interviewer: Where did you attend college and what was your knowledge or experience of
mental health crisis services?

Interviewee: I went to UMBC for my undergraduate degree with a double major in Psychology
& Social Work and then I went on to University of Maryland School of Social Work to get my
Master's degree in Social Work with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. I've covered
a lot of ground over the last ~19 years, working primarily with pregnant women (specifically
pregnant teens) & their infants, early childhood development, and family & community systems.
I also received a certificate in Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health from the University of
Maryland School of Medicine and have worked more recently (in the last few years) with youth
mental health systems
Interviewer: How does the government address the suicide rates?
Interviewee: There’s a youth risk behavior survey given out to students every two years. The
most recent data is from 2016 and the most recent survey was given out in 2018. Although we
are currently waiting for that data to come out, but it should be out in early 2020. Also, Governor
Hogan did a suicide prevention plan where he gets the schools involved and he gets the different
communities involved. On a local level with the Howard county health department there is a
youth suicide prevention plan.
Reflection
Key things I will take away for my research is to start researching more openly and eventually
I’ll be able to find myself more interested in a narrower topic. The interview went pretty well
since I had a more narrower topic and I was able to get an opinion from a professional on my
topic and where I should go with it. Since I did this interview over email, I could see how
challenging it was to talk to someone and to fully understand their point of view. For an
interview in the future, I will try to make it over the phone or in person and I will come up with
more meaningful questions to my research. It was challenging for me to come up with important
questions but overall I think the interview went pretty well and I got a better understanding on
which direction I want to go with my topic. I now want to focus more on how this policy at the
University of Maryland is only looking out for the students short term safety rather than long
term safety.

Elsaesser

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Elsaesser

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Renae Elsaesser

Interviewer: Renae Elsaesser

Interview Setting: Interview conducted on 11/18/19 at 3:45 pm through the phone.

enrolled in an Independent Research course at my school in which we choose an area of

Interviewer: How practical do you think it is to build an on campus treatment center?

qualified staff to support students.

Interviewee: I don't have an answer on this one, sorry

involved with it?

youth/families) and considered psychology and social work as primary options.

mental health crisis services?

mental health systems

Interviewer: How does the government address the suicide rates?

youth suicide prevention plan.

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