Triton CORE Announcement

Dear UC San Diego Community Members,

I’m pleased to share an update on a new UC San Diego pilot program, Triton CORE, a program launching later this Fall that will mobilize mental health professionals under Student Health and Well-Being responding to behavioral health crises that occur on campus. Interactions are consent-based and transparent with well-delineated and understood processes, including clear explanations of future steps. In cases where physical safety is a concern, the UC San Diego Campus Police Department will collaborate, as needed, with this new mental health team. The naming of the team was inspired by students and will be called the Triton Compassionate Response (Triton CORE) team. Clinical interventions at the location provide a safe space that holds a trauma informed and multicultural approach that strives to deescalate and stabilize individuals experiencing a crisis.

Historically, people experiencing behavioral crises have increased exposure to unnecessary hospitalization and criminalization that can be avoided by integrating person-centered services that elevate lived experiences, anti-oppressive practices, and innovative pathways to the least restrictive level of care. Here at UC San Diego, we strive to provide the resources our community needs to flourish.

The creation of this team is a story of teamwork—for which we are grateful to the collaboration and hard work of so many campus community partners. Our collaborative approach intersects with the unique needs of our campus community, ensuring Triton CORE is integral in breaking down barriers that historically block access to behavioral health systems.

Our Triton CORE team staffing and infrastructure planning are well underway and I am excited to share that we have 1.4 of our 3.4 staff to support the program. Ashley Metoyer joins us as the new Triton CORE Team Manager, she is a licensed clinical social worker and comes to us with 15 years of mental health experience in community-based and healthcare settings. Madi Franck is a licensed clinical social worker and joins us half-time as the new Triton CORE Team Behavioral Health Counselor, performing very similar work for San Diego County as a mobile crisis worker. As the team scales up in staffing, listening tours will be facilitated by Triton CORE staff to obtain recommendations on campus crisis support and programmatic strategies. For more information, please contact our team at TritonCORE@health.ucsd.edu.

Best,

Susan Fila, PhD, LCSW
Executive Director, Student Health and Well-Being