The Mindful Space

Dr. Banton began her career working as a social worker for the Department of Public Health-HIV Program where she worked with individuals impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. From there, she transitioned to the University of California San Diego, Department of Psychiatry working with the individuals who were newly released from incarceration returning to the San Bernardino County area. She went on to work for Children and Family Services as a Social Service Practitioner and then finally as a Supervising Social Services Practitioner for thirteen years. She has worked in direct services as well as in new program design, training, program implement and monitoring, and supervision.

Dr. Banton is a licensed marriage and family therapist and was in private practice. Her mental health specialties include education, motivation, relationship and trauma focused practice. In addition, she teaches at several schools in the local area on topics that include trauma, child abuse/neglect, mandated reporting, psychology and human services.

Barstow Community College Recognized as One of the Healthiest Campuses Among U.S. Colleges and Universities

Barstow Community College joins four other colleges and universities as a recipient of the 2022 Active Minds Healthy Campus Award

BARSTOW, CA, March 8, 2022 – Today, Barstow Community College was announced as a winner of the 2022 Active Minds Healthy Campus Award and recognized as one of the healthiest college campuses in the nation. The prestigious award, now in its sixth year, celebrates U.S. colleges and universities that provide access to quality healthcare and not only serve students’ physical health but give equal priority and investment to mental health.

This year’s recipients represent a range of campuses that operate within different contexts and challenges. Together they demonstrate how institutions of all sizes and types can create healthy communities that allow every student the opportunity to thrive and succeed.

Barstow Community College joins four other colleges and universities in receiving the Healthy Campus Award: Auburn University, University of South Florida-St. Petersburg campus, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Virginia Tech.

Colleges and universities are crucial partners in improving the well-being of young adults. Barstow Community College, and the other winning campuses, found ways to pivot to address student needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, proactively address systems of oppression, integrate health and wellbeing in strategic planning, and use data to ensure that students are getting the care they need.

"Our mission at Barstow Community College has been to get mental health education, training, and resources to students in our area by all means possible," said Tanesha Young, dean of counseling and student success for Barstow Community College. "We aim to be student centered so that barriers can be removed and allow for student success. We know when students succeed our community also succeeds."

Students enrolled at colleges and universities that prioritize well-being often find that the programs and services provided to them are part of the fabric of the campus community.

The well-being of all students is a priority for Barstow and it shows. The review panel for the Healthy Campus Award cited the following innovative practices in particular:

● Defining Health Broadly and Pursuing it Comprehensively:

Barstow Community College has taken a proactive stance on mental health and well-being. In September 2020, Barstow Community College opened The Mindful Space, the campus mental health counseling center, which started seeing students virtually via telephone and video sessions at no cost to the student. Now The Mindful Space provides, both in-person and virtually, individual psychotherapy, coaching, group therapy, mental health assessment, crisis intervention, consultations, referrals to additional services in the community, and disciplinary intervention to students with grant funding.

● Securing and Making the Most of Available Resources: Being a rural campus, Barstow Community College has thoughtfully partnered with local community-based and governmental agencies to provide a well-integrated system for change. Barstow has used this approach to find the right care for the right person at the right time in the right area. They have established memorandums of understanding with the two largest community-based organizations in the Barstow area to refer students to appropriate providers through a warm handoff system. On campus, Barstow added the CareSolace system which enables students, faculty, and staff to find mental health services for their specific needs.

● Cultivating a Deep Commitment to Equal Opportunities for Health: With Barstow Community College’s diverse student population, they are committed to addressing gaps in opportunities to obtain services and information that tends to negatively affect certain populations. They have created a Student Success and Equity Committee which is a shared governance entity responsible for developing the Student Equity Plan to boost academic achievement for student subpopulations determined to be of higher risk for discontinuation and requires each college to develop detailed goals and measures addressing disparities. To meet their goals, many of the programs provided by Barstow focus on supporting students’ basic needs, including housing, food, and English as a second language services, in addition to providing emotional support.

“Barstow Community College stands out because it demonstrates a driven stance on mental health and well-being by providing free services to students through in-house providers and community partnerships,” said Alison Malmon, founder and executive director of Active Minds. “Barstow is a model for prioritizing mental health for its students by engaging the local community.”