What is the OTC Cares Team?

The Cares Team coordinates OTC’s resources to address the needs of students experiencing significant behavioral disturbances. Our goal is to recommend collaborative and purposeful interventions aimed at helping students achieve success. With one central location available to express concerns, the scope of assistance and the follow-up care that may be necessary can be significantly expanded for our students.

The goals of OTC’s Cares Team include the following: (1) preventing crises before they occur through the provision of outreach and educational programming, consultation, appropriate assessment, and referrals, (2) ensuring that students whose behavior is of concern are contacted through follow-up processes and have access to the appropriate services so that they have the opportunity to improve their welfare and (3) creating a unified reporting and tracking system that will allow members of the BIT to observe patterns of behavior that may elicit assessment and to provide a documented response to distressed students. For more details concerning the Mission and Purpose of OTC’s Cares Team, please visit TEAM PROTOCOL.

Why does OTC need a Cares Team?

Legal agencies and research gathered from institutional tragedies strongly support that educational institutions must address campus safety in a much more unified, planned and proactive manner than ever before. Two states, Virginia and Illinois, require their state universities to have formal teams such as our BIT. It is no longer acceptable for higher education institutions not to have a centralized campus team and system to help identify students in distress early, connect students in distress with appropriate resources and provide follow-up care. Please visit the following on-line resource for more insight into this topic: Why Do Campuses Need Behavioral Intervention Teams?

What is OTCCares, and how is it different from the Cares Team?

OTCCares is a set of resources that OTC established to protect the health and safety of our community. The Cares Team (along with Safety & Security, Disability Support Services, and Counseling Services) is one of the resources that falls under the umbrella of the OTCCares initiative. For more information, visit OTCCares.

What kinds of behaviors of concern should be reported?

How do I make a referral/report?

If you have concerns about a student, visit OTCCares and click on the “Click to Report an Incident” button to complete a confidential Incident Report. Please be sure to include as much specific, objective information in your report as you can. The report form provides unlimited space to describe the behaviors of concern and to attach any supporting materials (photos, writings, etc.). If you have questions concerning reporting, you can also consult with any member of the BIT Core Team by calling members directly or by the Cares line: 417-447-6697.

How do I know if a concern is worthy of a Cares report?

When in doubt, please report. Your reported concerns could be critical to the BIT as we seek to determine whether an expressed concern is an isolated event or a sign that a student has more serious issues.

How anonymous/confidential is the reporting process?

When we receive a report, we will only know the reporter’s identity if the reporter chooses to include this information in his/her report. Reporters can remain anonymous; however, we do encourage reporters to include their contact information so that if we need additional information or have questions concerning a report, we can gather this information more quickly.

Will the reporter’s identity remain confidential when a student of concern is contacted?

Although there may be situations where the student can deduce who reported the concerns, as a general rule, the Cares Team does not share the identity of the reporter with the student of concern.

Shouldn’t employees report concerns to their supervisor, department chair or dean rather than the Cares Team?

We encourage employees to follow the guidelines as set forth by their supervisor when it comes to communicating students of concern. We simply ask that you share this communication through the BIT as well so that, when appropriate, we can coordinate early intervention for this student in conjunction with the actions the reporter, supervisor, department chair and/or dean plan to take. Although it is your personal decision whether you will report concerns to the BIT, we ask that you strongly whether keeping this information isolated within your department is for the benefit the student.

After a report is submitted, how timely will the Cares Team take action?

When you submit your report, the designated Cares Team member receives an electronic notification immediately. We may act on reports within minutes of submission depending on the nature of the concerning behavior. Not all submissions, however, will warrant an immediate response, and in some cases, no response is warranted.

When should I make a report to the Cares Team, and when should I contact Safety & Security?

Who does the Cares Team serve?

Currently, we focus our resources on working with our student population.

Who comprises the Cares Team?

How often does the Cares Team meet?

OTC’s Core Team has a weekly meeting but may hold additional meetings as needed. During weekly meetings, core members discuss new reports and ongoing cases to coordinate resources for students of concern. The Core Team remains in daily contact electronically for immediate feedback and case consultation.

What is the history of the Cares Team?

OTC’s initially formed the Cares Team in 2008 as a subcommittee of OTC’s Crisis Management Committee. OTC tasked our subcommittee with developing and implementing the Behavioral Intervention Team Protocol. After two years of training and development, we formally introduced the Cares Team to the campus community in January, 2010.

What training/experience/preparation did the team members receive to develop and implement OTC’s Cares Team?

Core Team members receive extensive instruction from National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM) partners to develop and implement OTC’s Cares Team initiative. Training involves attending conferences, webinars, one-on-one consultations, and research resources provided by NCHERM and the National Behavioral Intervention Team Association (NaBITA). Members of the Cares Team Advisory Committee have also participated in numerous webinars on this topic and periodic committee meetings.

Who is on the Cares Team Advisory Committee, and what is its purpose?

The Cares Team Advisory Committee comprises 23 OTC employees representing a cross-section of the campus community. The committee’s purpose is for members to review trends in incidents, advise on ways to improve the delivery of services, to consult the Core Team as needed, and assist in promoting the mission of the Cares Team.

How will reporters know if their report has been received and acted upon?

Once someone submits a report, the reporter will not know the exact actions we may take as we seek to protect the privacy of our students. Any number of responses/actions may be appropriate after receiving an incident report. In some instances, we will take no immediate action; in other instances, immediate contact with the student will be necessary. Our team follows an objective protocol when determining follow-up actions. The nature of the report, the behaviors the student exhibits, and the number of reports that we received previously all play a role in guiding the Cares Team in actions that we may take. You can view possible actions from our OTCCares web pages at the following link: OTC’s Cares Risk Assessment Tool.

How does the Cares Team determine if reports are false or true?

There is the possibility that reports contain false information or are reported out of revenge. Nationwide, the number of “false reports” is actually quite low. This is consistent with our experience at OTC. When someone submits a report, our team is careful about the actions we may take. When necessary, and if the reporter has shared his/her contact information, the team consults the reporter for further information.

Who can submit reports of concern?

We encourage all members of the OTC community (students, employees, and visitors to our campus) to participate in recognizing, responding, referring, and reporting to keep our campus safe and healthy.

What happens when an employee is reported through the Cares Team?

In most instances, we proceed with reports of concern for an employee by contacting the employee directly to determine if we can assist through Counseling Services.

What happens if a Career Center or Middle College student is identified as the student of concern?

Our Career Center and Middle College students have counseling services available through the Career Center, and in most instances, the Cares Team contacts the staff of these areas to follow up with the student. A staff member of our Career Center also serves on the Cares Team advisory committee so we are fortunate to have input and suggestions on how to refer the best Career Center and Middle College students who may be reported through the Cares Team.