Edition 55 | November 2022

Welcome to the October 2022 Office of Suicide Prevention newsletter! November is Native American Heritage Month!

This month's OSP Rockstar Partner is Guy Maxwell.

Guy is a suicide attempt survivor featured on Live Through This and is active in the Colorado "Fourteeners" Community. In the 1980s, Guy was in Grand Junction, CO at an addiction rehab facility. There, Guy asked his therapist how he could fill the hole inside of him that he felt while in recovery. The therapist mentioned Colorado's 50+ mountains above 14,000 feet. Guy learned more about Colorado's "13ers" and "14ers," including through Gerry Roach's Colorado's Fourteeners book. Guy's first 14er summit was Mount of the Holy Cross, and his second was Capitol Peak, which he has summited 13 times. Climbing 14ers, many of them solo summits, helped Guy recover and to push himself to see what all that he is capable of.

Regarding his Capitol Peak summits, Guy writes: "I owe this mountain a lot! Summited and returned every time safely. I only was able to do this by showing the mountain the same respect as I did my recovery. I am offering this to everyone in hopes that it may help someone. I wish you all the very best in your endeavors either to get lost just enough to find yourself, or any other reason you have to reach amazing heights in your life."

Thank you, Guy, for sharing your journey with the Colorado 14ers Community and with our OSP community partners!

Do you have a Rockstar Partner in your community that you would like to see featured in our next newsletter? Nominate them here by completing our Rockstar Partner Nomination Form.

OSP’s legislative report for FY21-22 was released on November 1st! This report provides information about OSP's coordination of suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention efforts and programs across Colorado. OSP continues to share updates on suicide-specific data. Of note is that Colorado's suicide fatality rate (for all ages, as well as for youth ages 10-18) has remained statistically stable since 2016. This report also shares suicide-specific data around disparities that Colorado communities are experiencing. Click here to learn more about OSP’s strategies and successes.

The first regular session of the 74th General Assembly (Colorado's legislature) will convene on January 9, 2023. The Office of Suicide Prevention is gearing up for another busy legislative session. Please email us at CDPHE_SuicidePrevention@state.co.us if you have any questions or are working on something policy-related that you want to share with the OSP.

Colorado-National Collaborative (CNC)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released their Comprehensive Suicide Prevention: Program Profiles page, featuring the Office of Suicide Prevention. To learn more about CNC efforts , view our profile here.

State Partners

CDPHE Colorado Coroner Mini-Grant Opportunity: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Opioid Overdose Prevention Program invites Colorado coroners' offices to apply for mini-grants offered to support coroners as they deal with the opioid crisis in Colorado. Colorado coroners may apply for up to or over $5,000 to support toxicology testing. Apply now. Email cody.brown@state.co.us for more information. 

Commission

The October Quarterly Commission meeting included presentations on the Commission's work since 2014, and on its ongoing equity work. We also thanked Sarah Brummett for her years of service to OSP as the first Commission Coordinator and as the OSP Director from 2016-2022! Please click here for the October meeting’s materials, including its recording.

The Commission is looking forward to the upcoming 2023 year! Please join the upcoming Quarterly Suicide Prevention Commission meeting on Friday, January 27, 2023, 9-11:30am. This will be our first meeting in the New Year! Information on how to join the Commission meeting is here. 

The Commission currently has four open seats: Law Enforcement, Interfaith Organization, Colorado Business Community and a Philanthropic Foundation seat. Here is the application for anyone who is interested in applying for these openings. 



The Suicide Prevention Commission supports multiple workgroups: an Older Adults Workgroup; a Youth-Specific Initiatives Workgroup; the Governor’s Challenge Workgroup to Support Service Members, Veterans, and their Families; and a Postvention Workgroup. Click here to sign up for any of the workgroups. All workgroup materials can be found here. If you have any questions or are interested in participating in the various workgroups or Commission meetings, please contact the Commission Coordinator Alise Nichols at alise.nichols@state.co.us.

The next Zero Suicide Learning Collaborative will be held on Tuesday, November 22nd from 10:00-11:00am. It will feature a discussion on cultural responsivity as an evidence-based practice for Colorado providers, and will also include an assessment of the needs of the Learning Collaborative attendees. Please email conlin.bass@state.co.us to be added to this calendar invite and listserv. 

Training

The OSP is pleased to announce that we will be hosting  our next free, virtual CAMS trainings for Colorado providers on Thursday, December 8th, 2022.  Please feel free to apply yourself, or share this application link with your partners. 

*Please note that space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Submitting an application does not guarantee your space. OSP staff will reach out to applicants to confirm registration. 

Bring Mental Health First Aid to your community! Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a course that teaches individuals how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Through the Office of Suicide Prevention, the Colorado chapter of Mental Health First Aid (MHFACO) receives grant funding to help pay for courses for specialty populations. MHFACO can also help those who may not qualify for grant funding to set up courses if you are interested in bringing MHFA to your community, please reach out to Betsy Molgano at bmolgano@cbhc.org today!

Visit the Office of Suicide Prevention’s Training webpage for more information on CAMS, LivingWorks Start, and much more!

Please note: There is an "Upcoming Events" section at the end of the newsletter. If your browser clips this email, please be sure to click "View entire message" to access all of the content!

Native American Heritage Month

The SPRC has highlighted these resources to help support the strength, well-being, and resilience of Native communities:

• Watch their webinar on supporting tribal youth at risk for suicide.
• Read a joint statement on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative report.
• Learn how media representations of Native communities can prompt healing conversations about mental health.

Find guidance on working with tribal communities to develop culturally relevant suicide prevention strategies.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Bloomberg School) Center for Indigenous Health (CIH) recently released CULTURE FORWARD: A Strengths and Culture-Based Tool to Protect Our Native Youth from Suicide. Developed with input from people across Indian Country, the tool contains tribally driven and evidence- and practice-based strategies to prevent youth suicide.

Healing Our Protectors: Building Resilience Among Tribal Law Enforcement Officers Through Cultural Interventions. Toolkit by MHTTC Mountain Plains (HSS Region 8). 



The National American Indian and Alaska Native MHTTC works with organizations and treatment practitioners involved in the delivery of mental health services to American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, families, and tribal and urban Indian communities to strengthen their capacity to deliver effective evidence-based and experience-based practices.

Suicide Loss

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is an event in which survivors of suicide loss come together to find connection, understanding, and hope through their shared experience. This year, International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is tomorrow, Saturday, November 19, 2022. Find an event near you here.

El Día De Los Muertos/Day of the Dead, Grief and Loss Toolkit

has several resources available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. 

What Not to Say to Someone Who Has Lost a Loved One to Suicide - Experts offer advice for supporting a survivor of suicide loss.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center has more resources for survivors of suicide loss here.

Expert Untangles Complexities of Grief for Suicide Loss Survivors: A CU Anschutz expert breaks down the complexities of grief  for people who lose a loved one to suicide and offers coping strategies for healing.

Equity

The Seize the Awkward campaign has released new public service announcements that encourage Black and Hispanic/Latine young people to talk with their friends about mental health. The campaign is a joint effort to reduce suicide among young adults from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and The Jed Foundation (JED) in collaboration with the Ad Council.

The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) are hosting virtual discussions about mental health with LGBTQ+ youth and parents or guardians of LGBTQ+ youth to explore the current needs and challenges among LGBTQ+ youth and identify ways professionals and parents or guardians can better support their mental well-being. NORC and SPRC are seeking participation from LGBTQ+ youth ages 18-24 and parents or guardians of LGBTQ+ youth. Participants will receive a $25 Amazon eGift Card. If you are interested in participating, please fill out this participation interest form. If you have any questions, please contact Abby Mariani at mariani-abby@norc.org.

General

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control has released the Suicide Prevention Resource for Action (Suicide Prevention Resource), previously known as Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policy, Programs, and Practices. It is now updated, expanded, and renamed and includes strategies with the best available evidence to make an impact on saving lives.

November is National Family Caregivers Month, and Mental Health America has created an online guide to help new mental health caregivers navigate their role.

Youth and Young Adults

Mental Health America’s Back to School toolkit is now available in Spanish here. This year’s toolkit includes fact sheets for parents/teachers, fact sheets for children/teens, worksheets for children/teens, key messages and statistics, sample drop-in article, sample social media post language and images, and Spanish language fact sheets, posters, and worksheets (new this month!).

Older Adults

Culturally-Responsive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with Older Adults. This site lets you access the recorded webinar series.

Voices of Older Adults with Lived Experience with Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Stigma about mental health and substance use is strong at any age, but particularly among the current cohort of older adults. To decrease stigma, the E4 Center listened to older adults about their experience of mental health and substance use, treatment, and life after treatment through video.

The recently released engAGED Community Awareness Toolkit includes a calendar of social engagement opportunities. Organized by month, the calendar offers organizations ideas to promote social engagement when celebrating observances and holidays with consumers throughout the year.

Lethal Means Safety & Overdose Prevention

The National Overdose Prevention Leadership Summit (NOPLS) is an annual virtual event, held this year on December 6th and 7th, that highlights efforts in the overdose crisis that bridge justice, health care, and public health sectors.

In The News

Moodfuel News is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to serving Coloradans with unmet mental health needs through original and curated, inclusive and solutions-based journalism. Visit their website to explore resources or to subscribe to their weekly newsletter.

Cultural Formulation Within an Agricultural and Rural Population. Webinar. December 8, 2022 11:00 am - 12:30 pm MT.

Treating Depressed and Suicidal Teens with Dr. David A Brent. Webinar by The Wellness Institute. Friday, December 9, 2022 from 9:30 a.m - 11:00 am MT

Cultural Formulation Within an Indigenous Population. Webinar. December 15, 2022 from 11:00 am -12:30 pm MT by MHTTC Mountain Plains (HSS Region 8).