The Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act (GLSMA) received $10 million in funding for FY2005. Unfortunately, none of the funds were dedicated to the campus mental health component of the GLSMA. The original sponsors of the GLSMA sought to rectify this situation by sending a letter to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator, Charles Curie, requesting that $1 million from the FY2005 funding be allocated to a college mental health grant program.

The sponsors of the GLSMA recognize that the scope of mental and behavioral health problems on campuses today is significant and growing. According to a survey conducted by the American College Health Association (as reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, November 30, 2004), 14.9 percent of 47,000 college students surveyed at 74 colleges reported receiving a diagnosis of depression in the spring of 2004, as compared to 10.3 percent in the spring of 2000. Even more disturbing is that 10 percent of the students surveyed said that they had seriously considered suicide during 2004.

We would like to thank all the sponsors of the GLSMA for their unwavering commitment to addressing the growing need for mental and behavioral health services on our nation’s college campuses.

Click here to read the letter to Administrator Curie from the GLSMA sponsors

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