About the Academy

Join Amy Molloy, Zero Suicide Institute Senior Project Associate, for a two-day, Zero Suicide Academy in Jefferson City, MO. This event is sponsored by The Missouri Department of Mental Health, in partnership with the Missouri Behavioral Health Council.

The Zero Suicide Academy is a two-day training for senior leaders of health, behavioral health care, and substance use treatment organizations that seek to dramatically reduce suicides among patients in their care. Using the Zero Suicide framework, participants learn how to incorporate best and promising practices into their organizations and processes to improve care and safety for individuals at risk. Zero Suicide faculty provide both interactive presentations and small group sessions, collaborating with participants to develop organization-specific action plans.

The Missouri Behavioral Health Council (MBHC) has approved this program for 14.7 behavioral health continuing education contacts hours. MBHC will be responsible for this program and maintain a record of your continuing education hours earned.

Learn More

Dates

Applicants are expected to commit to participation in Zero Suicide Pre-Academy and Post- Academy in addition to Academy dates.

• Pre-Academy: Wednesday, August 7th, 2024 from 12:00pm- 1:00pm CT
• Two-Day Academy: Wednesday, August 14th, 2024 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm CT and Thursday, August 15th, 2024 from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm CT
• Post- Academy: Thursday, September 17th, 2024 from 12:00pm- 1:00pm CT

Location

Compass Health Network, 3515 Amazonas Dr., Jefferson City, MO 65109

Eligibility

Missouri health, behavioral healthcare, and substance use treatment organizations are eligible to apply. 

Objectives

The objectives of the Zero Suicide Academy are to:

• Provide organizations interested in adopting a Zero Suicide approach with the skills and information necessary to launch their effort;
• Create collaborative links between the organizations launching these initiatives in order to provide mentorship and support so that the perspectives, knowledge, and skills of each inform the work of the others; and
• Aid in developing implementation plans for the Zero Suicide initiatives at each participating organization.

How to Apply

Participant Eligibility

Applicants are to attend the Zero Suicide Academy with a team of 4 individuals including the person identified as the lead for the system's Zero Suicide initiative. Recommendations for team composition include:

• Person(s) responsible and with authority for implementation decisions (e.g. Directors, Managers, Supervisors, etc).
• Senior leader/management (irrespective of discipline area).
• Person(s) responsible for managing your electronic health records (EHR) system, quality improvement, or risk management.
• Person(s) that provide care to patients daily (e.g., case manager, psychologist, social worker, nurse, other).

Zero Suicide implementation team members should include persons who can both champion Zero Suicide with passion and those who have some power and influence in your system. This can include clinical directors, senior clinical staff with coordination over a certain area or department, information technology, risk management or quality improvement, or a person with lived experience.

All organizations wishing to be considered for the Zero Suicide Academy will submit the application by June 28th, 2024.

Application Instructions

A complete application will be required including at least 4 team members selected to attend. Applications are due by Friday, June 28, 2024.

The Zero Suicide Academy application consists of:

1. A letter of commitment written by the organization’s CEO/Senior Executive Leader. The CEO/Senior Executive Leader should review and approve the submission and agree to the strategy proposed. Leadership letters of commitment to the Zero Suicide model created for other purposes are acceptable so long as they are dated within the prior 6 months. Click here for sample letter.
2. A narrative that, in two to four pages, responds to the following: 
   1. Briefly describe the members of your team and the relevant skills, knowledge, and experience they bring to the Zero Suicide Academy.
   2. What are your team’s goals for participating in the Zero Suicide Academy and what does the team hope to learn during the training? 
3. A Zero Suicide Organizational Self-Study is to be completed by your implementation team members, along with your application.

Organizational Self- Study

A Zero Suicide Organizational Self-Study is to be completed by your implementation team members, along with your application. We offer two versions of the Organizational Self-Study: the General Organizational Self-Study and the Inpatient Organizational Self-Study. Organizations can choose to take one or both available Self-Studies.

If you would like to review the questions before taking the survey, we offer a PDF of each version of the Self-Study. To access these resources, you will need to create an account on the Zero Suicide website.

Go to Organizational Self-Study