CARE TEAM

The CARE (Collaborate, Advocate, Respond, & Educate) Team enhances student retention and promotes student success by assisting with any situation that could disrupt a student’s academic, personal or social well-being at Del Mar College. The team reviews individual plans and coordinates a structured action plan to address concerns to help support the safety & well-being of the student and campus community.  

The CARE Team is focused on removing barriers to student success by providing academic, personal and social support. Partnering with members of the community, the CARE Team strives to promote student, faculty, and staff well-being while prioritizing community safety.

The CARE team also addresses situations where students may exhibit violent, threatening, disruptive or worrisome behaviors that my impact campus security and safety.  Team members assess situations that impede academic progress or the ability of others to function safely and successfully. The CARE Team is coordinated by the Office of Student Engagement and Retention under the Division of Student Affairs.

 What is the Role of the CARE Team?

• Provide a safe physical environment for members of the college community.
• Provide a safe emotional environment for the college community.
• Identify resources for students and provide referrals to appropriate campus and/or community support services.
• Respond to possible circumstances of violence or threatening behavior.
• Respond quickly to behavior indicating a potential risk to self or others.
• Determine if a realistic threat is present and act accordingly.
• Coordinate and assess information from faculty, administrators, students and local authorities.
• Notify, within FERPA guidelines, parents, guardians and/or next-of kin.
• Periodically assess outcomes of actions taken. 

 

The CARE Team 

The CARE Team consists of College personnel with expertise in student accessibility and advocacy, academic support, basic needs, mental health and civility.  Whenever possible a collaborative process will be used to assess disruptive, distressed or threatening behavior. A core team of key campus leaders will generally comprise the CARE Team, and a secondary support team will be available as needed to assist with the review and assessment of a situation. Other individuals, such as a faculty member who has expressed concern about a student, may also be consulted.

When investigating a potential threat, four members of the core team – to be chaired by the representative from the Student Engagement and Retention Office – will assemble to manage the investigation and make a determination regarding the level of threat. The CARE Team will meet on an emergency or as needed basis to review reports of concerning, disruptive, inappropriate, and/or threatening behavior brought forward by faculty, staff, and/or students.  

For more information, consultation or to make a referral, contact Rita Hernandez, Dean of Student Engagement and Retention at 361-698-1277.

The CARE Team is not designed to deal with cases of immediate threat to the safety of students and/or the campus community.  In these cases, dial 911 immediately.

Any situation not deemed to be imminent, yet still of concern should be reported to the Dean of Student Engagement and Retention office at 361-698-1277.