UCLA Extension this quarter formally announced the launch of Bruin REACH, a new program aimed at providing mental health support for its students.

REACH, which stands for resiliency, engagement, advocacy, compassion and holism, will aid students facing an array of behavioral health challenges and connect them with tools and services to ensure they are getting the most they can out of their studies. The program comes in response to a nationwide mental health crisis that has grown particularly acute among younger generations, said Melissa Turkington, director of student resilience at UCLA Extension.

“We’re seeing a lot more students struggling, and the issues they are dealing with are getting more severe," Turkington said.

The increase in young people struggling with their mental health became especially apparent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. After seeing a rise in the number of students reporting anxiety, depression and other issues, UCLA Extension worked with the American College Health Association to develop and distribute a survey on student wellness. The results suggested that UCLA Extension students were facing the same types of issues as students nationwide.

In response – and recognizing that UCLA Extension students did not have access to UCLA's campus health services, which include counseling and clinics – Turkington and her team worked to develop the REACH program.

“Over the last year, we've had a working group put together to figure out what kind of mental health resources and behavioral health resources would work best for our students,” Turkington said. “Right now, we're at the end of figuring out what our plan is and starting to implement it.”

The first steps toward implementation began with the launch of the REACH website, which will serve as a place of guidance for students who need any kind of help regarding mental illness. REACH is intended as a behavioral health resource dedicated solely to UCLA Extension students, using an intervention model to “help students improve resilience and achieve their goals through positive coping strategies.”

The program also recently published a toolkit, now available on the website, that allows students to learn more about the feelings they may be having and what next steps to take to help address them. The wellness kit includes information on topics ranging from stress and loneliness to identity and belonging.

“There are also resources on there for our staff and instructors and for students who see their friends struggling and how to help them," Turkington said. “There are a lot of resources on there for everyone, but it's mostly directed at the folks who need help and don't know how to get it.”

REACH has also teamed up with UCLA STAND for All, a self-paced online learning platform that helps students develop skills and strategies to address any mental health struggles they face. The program is free for students with mild to moderate symptoms of all major mental health disorders and has already proven to be effective, Turkington said. For those with more serious behavioral health issues, REACH can help students find insurance and get in contact with outside providers.

“The toolkit will tell them where to reach out next. If they choose not to do that, then we have things like apps, other websites, articles, YouTube videos, just so students can go on there and say, ‘Oh, this is something that I'm really interested in learning on my own,’ and that helps the majority of folks,” Turkington said.

REACH is completely confidential, and if students prefer to navigate their options on their own the website offers the resources to do so. According to Turkington, the program is, above all, intended to help students feel supported and know they have a place to go to in times of need.

“We understand that stigma is real,” she said. “But we want students to know that we are absolutely all about this work, and we want them to be successful as students, and the best way we can do that is to support them as people and see their whole selves. That's our main goal.”