Welcome to the December Office of Suicide Prevention newsletter! As our office continues to grow, we wanted to create a better communication channel to highlight new resources, community-level work, funding opportunities, and upcoming events. We hope you will find this a valuable resource to keep you plugged in to Suicide Prevention in Colorado!

Cheers to Sheri Cole and AFSP-Colorado!

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and Sheri Cole specifically, have long been champions for suicide prevention in Colorado. The AFSP Colorado Chapter, with its many incredible volunteers, works with multiple communities around the state, to help save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide. Sheri helped form the AFSP Colorado chapter in 2012, became the AFSP Area Director in 2013, and has been a dedicated supporter of community walks and events to raise money and awareness to support suicide prevention in Colorado. AFSP Colorado has dedicated a portion of these funds to support the work of the Office of Suicide Prevention, ensuring that the Colorado Gun Shop Project has access to materials that have been co-branded and co-developed with the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Most notably, the Colorado chapter, in partnership with AFSP national, was the first organization to invest in the Colorado-National Collaborative which is focused on creating a comprehensive community-based strategy to move the needle closer to zero in Colorado.  


Thank you Sheri and AFSP for all you do!

The OSP is pleased to offer our next Zero Suicide Academy for Colorado healthcare organizations on April 3-4, 2019. Apply here for the opportunity to send a team of 4 from your organization to the Academy to learn the ins and outs of implementation of this critical initiative.  Contact Emily Fine with questions.

Zero Suicide is a commitment to suicide prevention in health and behavioral health care systems and is also a specific set of strategies and tools.  Most community mental health centers, some hospitals, and other healthcare systems are currently implementing Zero Suicide. Join the movement to zero in Colorado!  Listen to our recent “Zero Suicide 101” webinar and peruse the Zero Suicide Toolkit.

Clinical Training: The OSP will present opportunities to cover costs for CAMS (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality) training for select mental health and behavioral health providers in 2019. To be considered for CAMS trainings sponsored by the Office of Suicide Prevention in 2019, please sign up here. Please email Lena.Heilmann@state.co.us with any questions.

The OSP also has materials for MHFA, SafeTALK, and QPR available for organizations needing financial assistance to provide community trainings. Click the links to request material assistance while supplies last! (there is also funding to support Mental Health First Aid Trainings in Colorado- more information here)

SPRC has released an updated and redesigned version of their most popular online course, Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM). This free, self-paced course is designed to help mental health professionals counsel people at risk for suicide—and their families—on reducing access to lethal means. It features a variety of real-world case studies, as well as a mobile-friendly design for easy, on-the-go access!

The new version of the course was developed in collaboration with Catherine Barber, director of the Means Matter Campaign at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, and Elaine Frank, a co-developer of the original in-person CALM workshop. While it is primarily designed for mental health professionals, others who work with people at risk for suicide, such as social service professionals and health care providers, may also benefit from taking this course.
 

Understanding FERPA

Information sharing between education, juvenile justice, mental health and other youth-serving agencies has been identified as a way for agencies to effectively assist meeting the needs of students involved in multiple systems, and information sharing is essential in regard to school safety.

There continues to be confusion about information sharing, in particular, what information can be shared and when. In January 2018, Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman issued a formal opinion with guidance on information sharing related to the family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) —see Colorado Attorney General Formal Opinion No. 18-01).

Attorney General Coffman has also issued a video on the subject after having a conversation with staff from several schools and representatives of community organizations. The video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEnphX0KeDM.

New website from the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention

The new user-friendly website is designed to better feature Action Alliance resources, convey the Action Alliance’s vision of hope, and highlight the many public and private sector partners committed to advancing: the National Strategy, the Action Alliance's priorities, and the nation's goal of reducing the annual suicide rate 20 percent by 2025.


Resources for Faith Communities

Your faith community can be an important source of hope and help. Faith communities are a natural setting for suicide prevention. Spiritual beliefs and practices tend to help people experience greater hope and meaning in their lives. Faith communities can also provide opportunities for developing positive relationships with others and can be an important source of support during difficult times.

The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance) Faith Communities Task Force has developed a new online presence for its Faith.Hope.Life. campaign. The website offers suicide prevention resources for every faith community--regardless of creed--including:

• Current information and resources about suicide prevention, including videos, webinars, prayers, and liturgies.

• Information for faith communities about the Action Alliance's National Weekend of Prayer for Faith, Hope, & Life.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) also has a wide range of faith community resources available. Among the recommendations of the SPRC are how faith communities can take action:

The best way to prevent suicide is to use a comprehensive approach that includes these key components:

• Promote emotional well-being and connectedness among members of your faith community.
• Identify people who may be at risk for suicide and assist them in getting help. 
• Be prepared to respond to a suicide death and provide support to the survivors

Coloradans Know Best

“The common belief is that good health is due to personal choices and good medical care. However, the reality is that genetics and clinical care only contribute about a combined 20% to our overall health. Conversely, the biggest factors to health are social and economic factors, such as education, economic status, housing, community safety and environmental conditions. These are known as upstream determinants of health as depicted in the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative Framework above. We know that if our goal is to reduce health inequities so that all people have the opportunity to thrive, we need to address social and institutional inequities as well as the living conditions of our communities.”

…. Read more at Change the Story