The California State University system has begun rolling out the Red Folder program, which is designed to help faculty and staff identify, respond to, and refer students in distress.

The Red Folder is a reference guide that contains safety tips and contact information for a wide variety of emergency campus resources to immediately help any student in distress. Also, it provides guidance on responding to incidents in which a student might be self-danger or threat to others.

There are three items that are being distributed this fall. One is a Red Folder icon that will be installed on every employee’s computer and in the CSYou intranet site within the next week, allowing quick access to the Red Folder. There is also a hard copy of the Red Folder that will be distributed to campus staff and faculty. Finally, a Red Folder in the form of a mobile application is currently being developed for each campus.

The Red Folder was developed by a systemwide workgroup consisting of Counseling and Psychological Services directors, counselors, student conduct administrators, and health educators. It was created through the support of the California Mental Health Services Authority’s Student Mental Health Initiative, which promotes and applies strategies to strengthen student mental health services across all CSU campuses.