The University of Oregon launched The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health today, UO President Michael Schill announced in an email to the UO community. The institute aims to provide behavioral and mental health resources to K-12 students in Oregon.

The Ballmer Institute will be based in Portland, which the institute’s website identifies as the “epicenter” of Oregon’s behavioral health crisis. 

“The global pandemic has only amplified the mental and behavioral health needs of students here in Portland and across the country,” Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said in the announcement. “School districts are often ill-equipped to adequately address these barriers to learning. We have a responsibility to find innovative ways to support the holistic needs of our students and are excited for our groundbreaking partnership with the Ballmer Institute.”

Toya Fick, a UO board of trustees member and Oregon director of the nonprofit Stand for Children, said the institute follows statewide legislation like the 2019 Student Success Act. 

“We heard from so many parents and teachers and students themselves that our schools need the financial support to provide mental and behavioral health for our kids in a school setting,” Fick said. “That legislation provides the financial resources. The Ballmer Institute will help provide the human resources to ensure our kids have what they need in school settings across Oregon.”

The Ballmer Institute will be funded by a gift of over $425 million from Connie and Steve Ballmer. The two also co-founded the Ballmer Group, a philanthropic organization that works “to improve economic mobility for children and families in the United States who are disproportionately likely to remain in poverty,” according to its website.

With the institute, UO plans to create new degree and certificate programs for behavioral health practitioners, provide “science-based early detection, prevention and treatment strategies” for children and families, develop new technologies and research through clinical studies and provide scholarships to support UO students and help them enter the workforce. 

The board of trustees is expected to look at purchasing the former Concordia University campus in northeast Portland as a home base for the institute. 

UO held a press conference at noon Tuesday to discuss the initiative further. Schill, UO Provost Patrick Phillips, Guerrero, Director of the Prevention Science Institute Laura Lee McIntyre, Executive Director of Ballmer Institute Randy Kamphaus, and UO’s Vice President for University Advancement Mike Andresen sat on the panel together. UO Vice President of Communications Richie Hunter introduced the speakers.

“Kids in this state are suffering,” Schill said. “Parents in this state are suffering. And our state needs help, and the University of Oregon, we are uniquely capable of providing that help.”

Guerrero applauded UO for having a “willingness to be bold” and to seek solutions to the issue of behavioral health among students. “Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed the negative impact” on Oregon students, he said, highlighting the potential for the Ballmer Institute to have a positive impact on both students and families.

“Why us and why now?” Phillips asked. He cited UO’s research capabilities, its student body that pays attention to how it can make a difference and an opportunity to show why Oregon as a state is special, since the program has garnered state government support. “We exist at a scale where we can actually make a difference,” he said. 

Andreasen highlighted how Connie and Steve Ballmer are “asking all of us, maybe even demanding of us, to leverage our teaching mission to have an impact on society” through their donation. 

Kamphaus said that UO “feels the same urgency as the rest of America” in addressing the issue of behavioral health. Interested parties can anticipate the certification program later this year, he said, followed by the admittance of 200 students in fall 2023 for its bachelor-level program.

this story was updated at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to include details from the press conference.