About the Academy

The New Jersey Department of Human Services/Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, partnered with the Zero Suicide Institute, invites New Jersey health and behavioral healthcare professionals to join Zero Suicide Institute Senior Project Associate Jan Ulrich for a two-day, online Zero Suicide Academy.

The Zero Suicide Academy is a two-day training for senior leaders of health and behavioral health care 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.

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Dates

Zero Suicide Academy Info Session: Monday, September 20, 2024 from 10:00am-10:30am ET
This information session is for health and behavioral healthcare systems considering sending a team or teams to attend the upcoming New Jersey Zero Suicide Academy. We will do a brief overview of "What is Zero Suicide," what you can expect at the two-day online Academy and answer questions about the application process. 

For the Info Session Zoom link, please contact Michael Mochol at michael.mochol@dhs.nj.gov. 

Selected applicants are expected to commit to participation in both the Zero Suicide Academy and Community of Practice.

• Pre-Academy: Tuesday, September 24, 2024 from 1- 2pm ET
• Academy Day 1: Thursday, September 26, 2024 from 8:30am- 4:30pm ET   
• Academy Day 2: Friday, September 27, 2024 from 8:30am- 4:30pm ET   
• Post- Academy: TBD

Team members attending the Zero Suicide Academy are expected to participate in a Community of Practice, after they participate in the Academy.  Specific dates and times of the Community of Practice are TBD.

Eligibility

All health and behavioral health organizations in New Jersey are eligible to apply for this event. Event limited to 16 teams of 2-6.

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.

CEU and CME Credits

Details coming soon

How to Apply

Participant Eligibility

Applicants are to attend the Zero Suicide Academy with a team of 2-6 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. Medical Doctor, CIO, ED, BH Director, or IT).

• At least one senior leader/management (irrespective of discipline area).
• At least one person who manages your electronic health records (EHR) system, quality improvement, or risk management.
• At least one person (e.g., case manager, psychologist, social worker, nurse, other) who provides care to patients daily.

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.

Application Instructions

Invited organizations wishing to be considered for the Zero Suicide Academy will submit their team details by September 20th.

Team Details Include:

• Name of Organization
• Names, Email, Phone, and Job Title of each participant

The application will be reviewed by Zero Suicide Institute (ZSI); a complete application will be required including 2-6 team members selected to attend and the completed organizational self-study. A completed application is required by September 20th. 

The Zero Suicide Academy application consists of:

1. A letter of commitment from CEO or other high level management from your organization. Click here for sample template

2. A narrative that, in two to four pages, responds to the following: 

• Briefly describe the members of your team and the relevant skills, knowledge, and experience they bring to the Zero Suicide Academy.
• What are your team’s goals for participating in the Zero Suicide Academy and what does the team hope to learn during the training?

The CEO letter, Zero Suicide Narrative and Organization Self-Study are due by September 20th. Please contact Michael Mochol at michael.mochol@dhs.nj.gov if your team is not able to submit documents by this date but your organization still wishes to send a team. 

Organizational Self-Study

A Zero Suicide Organizational Self-Study is to be completed by your implementation team members, along with your application, by September 20th.

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 

Contacts

Questions? Please Contact:

• Michael Mochol at michael.mochol@dhs.nj.gov regarding program questions.
• Zero Suicide Institute at info@zerosuicideinstitute.com regarding registration assistance.