Welcome!
Welcome to the September 2019 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!

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and we’d like to thank all of our colleagues, partners, and community members across Colorado working to create supportive and inclusive communities. As we work together, professionally and personally, to support ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities members who are experiencing suicidal despair or are otherwise impacted by suicide, it is important to hold some space for ourselves and acknowledge how difficult this work can be on each of us. Suicide prevention is also part of our own journeys, and this month we would like to acknowledge the time, energy, and dedication you put toward our shared mission.

We would like to express our gratitude for all that you do to elevate people with lived experience, to address disparities across Colorado, and to continue to strategize, partner, and collaborate with different communities and organizations. We at the Office of Suicide Prevention are proud to serve and partner with you, and we will continue working to prevent suicide and prioritizing equity in our efforts.

Walking the Walk with UCHealth:

UCHealth, one of the Rocky Mountain region’s largest hospital and health care systems, recently announced that it is making a $100 million investment to expand its behavioral health care services for people throughout Colorado. UCHealth is also an Office of Suicide Prevention partner, with two of their facilities--Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs and Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins--implementing the Zero Suicide framework. This announcement comes as health care providers throughout Colorado are adapting lessons from the recently completed State Innovation Model (SIM) initiative to demonstrate the value of integrating behavioral health into primary care and focusing upstream to help prevent and effectively treat mental health and substance use disorders.

UCHealth’s investment and commitment to whole person health is a signal to other health systems throughout the region that integrated care and tele-health services that deliver care to people in rural areas and who face transportation barriers are now standards of care that Coloradans should come to expect from their providers. The OSP is excited to continue to work with UCHealth to maximize the impact of this investment and take further steps to make Colorado the nation’s leader in health care innovations that prevent suicide, promoting mental health, and improving the overal well-being of people being served.  

Thank you UCHealth! 

Colorado’s Suicide Prevention Commission
Join us for our next full quarterly Commission Meeting on October 25, 2019 from 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in the Lilly Marks Board Room, first floor, 13199 Montview Blvd, 80045.  Please find more details including remote connection information here.  

The statewide Suicide Prevention Commission has open seats and is accepting applications!  Learn more about this opportunity and access the application here.

Colorado’s Suicide Prevention Commission recently took a stance to support LGBTQ+ youth and our communities. Check out the new suicide prevetion recommendation to support LGBTQ+ youth adopted by the Commission here.

Check out these LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention talking points.

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Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) Training 
The OSP is pleased to announce an upcoming Denver-area Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) training October 31, 2019 for health care professionals who provide ongoing mental health treatment and support. CAMS is designed to help providers and people participating in services who are at risk of suicide to engage in collaborative problem-solving and the creation of effective safety plans.

OSP will host another CAMS training in the Denver metro area spring of next year, as well as trainings in Larimer or Weld counties, Colorado Springs, and Grand Junction later in 2020. 

Please click here to apply for the CAMS training in Denver on October 31, 2019. Please email Michael.Lott-Manier@state.co.us with any questions.

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Free Materials! 
The OSP has materials for Mental Health First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA- English and Spanish), 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).

In order to streamline communications, we now have a centralized email address CDPHE_suicideprevention@state.co.us

One of the identified priorities for community partners is access to meaningful data. Mesa County Public Health serves as a wonderful example of collaboration across agencies to realize that goal. They recently convened approximately 30 stakeholders to review their newly released 2018 Suicide Prevention Report. According to Mesa county partners, this allowed them to ensure the data is representative of the community. One of their goals is to continue to focus on broader efforts to include stronger upstream data and prevention strategies that fit a public health model approach. Additionally, on September 10th, in recognition of Suicide Prevention Awareness Day, six of the local coffee shops in Grand Junction hosted a “coffee and conversation” suicide prevention event that invited community members to invite a friend, family member, or acquaintance to come in, have conversation and connect. In return, the shops offered free coffee to each guest. These types of community-led innovations fit well with efforts to move upstream, reduce stigma, and increase community connectedness. Way to go Mesa county!

New Resource: Colorado Gun Storage Map 
The Program for Injury Prevention, Education and Research at the Colorado School of Public Health, the University of Colorado Department of Emergency Medicine, and the Colorado Firearm Safety Coalition are pleased to announce the creation of the first-of-its-kind gun storage map. This web-based, searchable map is intended to help Coloradans find local options for voluntary, temporary firearm storage. Out-of-home gun storage can be helpful in a number of different circumstances, including when someone in the household is experiencing mental health concerns, or the gun-owner is traveling or hosting visitors. To view the map, click the image below or visit the Colorado Firearm Safety Coalition at https://coloradofirearmsafetycoalition.org/gun-storage-map/

Suicide ‘N’ Stuff Podcast: Welcome to Suicide ‘n’ Stuff: Episode 1!
S’n’S is a video podcast situation where your hosts, Dese’Rae L. Stage & Jess Stohlmann-Rainey, talk about suicide...and also stuff. All the stuff and all the things!

Episode 1: Critical thinking about suicide to get you through National Suicide Prevention Month (NSPM) and beyond. We’ll talk about media reporting guidelines, the good survivor/bad survivor dichotomy, issues with messaging around NSPM, dogs, babies, and more.

Uniting for Suicide Postvention: Uniting for Suicide Postvention (USPV) provides resources and support for everyone touched by suicide loss. The site has three main sections with resources for providers, communities and workplaces. 

Updated Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention 
The Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention gives educators and school administrators a comprehensive way to implement suicide prevention policies in their local community. In collaboration with the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and The Trevor Project, the program is research-based, and easily adaptable for middle and high schools.

Report and Podcast: Pain in the Nation Issue Brief: Alcohol and Drug Misuse and Suicide and the Millennial Generation 

Recorded Info Session on Upcoming Available Funding: 
We are excited to announce that our branch has been awarded CDC's Overdose Data to Action funding! We are beginning to navigate necessary changes and planning and will share information as we can. There will be several funding opportunities which include Grant Writing Assistance Program, Local Public Health Funds-via OPPI, Harm Reduction Program, Bulk Naloxone Program, and CDC’s Overdose Data to Action Funds.

Wellness and Addiction Recovery Guide 
This guide was published in partnership by the Office of Behavioral Health and Mental Health Colorado.