Grant to Help Va. Tech Upgrade Counseling

U.S. Funding for Model Program

The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday that it has awarded Virginia Tech a $960,685 grant to help the university improve its efforts to identify and help troubled students and staff.

University officials sought the funding in the wake of the April 16 mass shooting on campus. Student Seung Hui Cho, who was found to be mentally ill but never received counseling that had been ordered by a court, fatally shot 32 people before killing himself.

A panel appointed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) to investigate the rampage -- the deadliest mass shooting by an individual in U.S. history -- found gaps in the mental health system, confusion over student privacy laws and breakdowns in communications.

Virginia Tech will use the federal grant to identify, treat and monitor students, faculty and staff with mental health issues who may be a danger to themselves or others. The money also will be used to improve coordination of mental health services.

Mark Owczarski, a university spokesman, said the school has been working since the shooting to improve its mental health services and respond to problems identified by the governor's panel and in other reviews. He said the grant funding, which will be used to hire case managers and increase training, will help refine and strengthen the system.

Owczarski said the university also will develop a model for assessing and helping troubled students and staff that will be shared with other schools across the country.

"We will share the information with other universities so as many universities as possible can benefit from what we learn," Owczarski said.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement that the grant will help ensure that people at the university have the "continued support they need to recover, rebuild and prevent future acts of violence."

The shooting sparked efforts in schools nationwide to tighten security, improve mental health services and create systems to alert students of any danger.

According to the governor's report, professors, police and officials at Tech all had indications of Cho's mental instability, but the university did not "intervene effectively." In some cases there were privacy concerns about sharing information.

Cho, a quiet loner who did not like to be touched as a toddler, was in middle school when he was found to have a severe anxiety disorder. At Westfield High School in Chantilly, he was in a special education program and allowances were made for his inability to communicate and lack of social skills.

At Virginia Tech, Cho grew more isolated, and frightened teachers and classmates with violent writings.

In 2005, a judge ordered Cho to receive outpatient care after female students complained that Cho was stalking them, according to the governor's report. A judge ordered Cho to go to the university's Cook Counseling Center, but he was not treated by health-care professionals there, the report said.