Although many mental health issues are covered by mandated assessment, behavioral contracts and judicial code application, sometimes you need to face the issue of Involuntary Medical Withdrawal (IMW) to protect students or the community from risk or harm.
These withdrawals are often very challenging. They have the potential to turn into bitter disputes, with hurt feelings all around. They can also bring a university’s decision process onto the national stage, as with Pima College following student Jared Loughner’s shooting spree in Arizona in 2011.
There are times, however, when IMWs are the right course of action—both for the student and for the institution. When a student puts himself/herself, others on campus, and even the community at risk, administrators must make the difficult choice to consider and initiate involuntary withdrawal. These special cases must be carefully considered and cautiously pursued. This webinar will address how to navigate through the process from beginning to end with a focus on proactive policies and ways to limit risk.
Participants will learn about:
- Getting out ahead of the problem
- How to identify behaviors and medical problems that place students or the community at risk so you can be proactive
- The pros and cons of on-campus vs. off-campus assessment and treatment
- Discreet differences between voluntary withdrawals and involuntary medical withdrawals to define your best course of action
- Policy and application
- How to define and understand threat levels so you can create proper policies to protect students and the community
- The best ways to assess risk
- Judicial and behavioral steps you should take prior to enacting involuntary medical withdrawal
- Sample policies for involuntary medical withdrawals
- Case studies for student situations that should and should not be considered for involuntary medical withdrawals
- Navigating the risk
- How to avoid ethical minefields when utilizing this approach to psychological problems
- Legal concerns your school should be aware of prior to separating students from campus
- The ways HIPAA, FERPA, ADA, and confidentiality rules apply to the process
