BUTLER TWP — Officials of Butler County Community College are discussing the possibility of offering mental health services to students and staff with the help of external agencies.

At a board of trustees meeting Wednesday, Sept. 18, Josh Novak, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, said the college was approached by Glade Run Lutheran Services, as well as an agency in New Castle, requesting an agreement.

“They're offering a clinic opportunity off their main location, but they would staff it with their own counselors and actually bill insurances, just as they would on site,” Novak told trustees. “They're just doing that here on campus, so we're looking into that and trying to answer the questions about liability and risk management.”

Board member Gail Paserba reiterated the importance of offering mental health help for students, citing the death of a Knoch School District graduate and Gannon University student Jacob Herrit by suicide in 2021.

“If these services had been available to him at Gannon, we might not be having a golf outing in his memory,” she said.

Novak said any space on campus used for counseling would have to be approved.

“We would simply be offering a vetted space that was certified for counseling,” he said.

When asked how uninsured and underinsured students would access mental health services, Novak said officials are brainstorming options.

“We hope that maybe, if this is a successful venture, we could generate a fund internally that we could use to help support students,” Novak said. “Right now, our only option is to refer folks into the community to those resources and to try to work with agencies that might have a sliding payment scale.”

James Hrabosky, BC3’s vice president for administration and finance, said that Glade Run’s CEO, Steven Green, indicated that the organization would pay for uninsured students to receive services within the first year of the agreement.

“We don’t want to turn away students in need,” Hrabosky said.