About the Academy

All organizations and community members are invited to attend both days of the Zero Suicide Academy however, Day 1 will include information for all community groups and organization about several elements of Zero Suicide and how the entire community is needed to prevent suicide. Day 2 will be focused on those organizations who will be fully implementing the Zero Suicide framework. It will include implementation planning time for teams in addition to information and support from Zero Suicide faculty. See below for more information:

Dates

Selected applicants are expected to commit to participation for the following dates/ times

• ·Pre-Academy: November 20, 2023, 9:30-10:30 a.m. (ONLINE)
• ·Academy Day One: November 28, 2023, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• ·Academy Day Two: November 29, 2023, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• ·Post-Academy: December 20, 2023, 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. (ONLINE)

Location

Akwesasne Mohawk Casino, Resort Banquet Room

873 State Route 37, Akwesasne, New York 12914

Description

The Zero Suicide Academy is a two-day training for those who seek to dramatically reduce suicides among individuals in their care. Using the Zero Suicide framework, participants will 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 interactive presentations to help bolster organization’s specific action plans. 

The Zero Suicide Community of Practice will convene monthly (online) following the Academy to facilitate group learning and assist sites in their first years of implementation.

 Learn More

Day 1 of Academy:

• Lead: Committed and engaged community and organizational leaders are vital to preventing suicides. Postvention activities are also suicide prevention activities. The voices of those with lived experience are needed to make this community-wide initiative a success.
• Identify: It is important to identify those who are at risk of suicide by screening for suicide (i.e., regularly asking people you encountered in your organization). Not everyone at risk of suicide needs to go to a hospital.
• Engage: Engage those at risk of suicide. The importance of safety planning and lethal means safety counseling to keep people at risk of suicide safe.
• Transition: Provide safe care during times of transition. Understand how and where to transition people at risk of suicide.
• Train: Provide training to all staff according to their role to recognize and assist someone at risk of suicide.

Day 2 of Academy:

Organizations that should attend Day 2 include those healthcare and behavioral healthcare organizations that provide care to people who are at risk of suicide.

Day 2 will cover the following Zero Suicide elements and will also include specific team implementation planning time:

• Lead: Using the Organizational self-study and the Implementation team to guide implementation of the Zero Suicide framework
• Identify: Screening, assessment, risk determination for those at risk of suicide
• Engage: Engaging people at risk of suicide with a care pathway
• Transition: Developing relationships between organizations
• Treat: Suicide specific treatments (brief interventions)
• Improve: Data driven, continuous quality improvement
• Train: Workforce survey

Objectives

The objectives of the Zero Suicide Academy are to:  

• Provide organizations interested in adopting a Zero Suicide approach with the skills and support 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  
• Development of implementation plans for the Zero Suicide initiatives at each participating organization.  

How To Apply

FOR THOSE TEAMS ATTENDING DAY 2: Prior to the Zero Suicide Academy

Your Team

Your team should include 2-4 core members from your implementation team.  You should have at least one participating team member with decision-making authority.  The Team Lead is responsible for submitting your Organizational Study (see below).

Recommendations for team composition include person(s) responsible for, or with authority to, make decisions for the organization, has influence on processes, and is involved in the clinical aspect of provided care. Often this includes positions including Case Manager, Chief Officers, Directors, and the like.

For more guidance on team composition, please click here

Application Instructions

Invited organizations wishing to be considered for the Zero Suicide Academy will submit the application by the due date. The application will be reviewed by Zero Suicide Institute (ZSI); a complete application will be required including at least 4 team members selected to attend and the completed organizational self-study. Applications are due by November 18, 2023.

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?

Organizational Self- Studies

It is recommended that each team who will be attending Day 2 of the Academy complete a Zero Suicide Organizational Self-Study with their implementation team.

Each team can create an account on the Zero Suicide website and submit the study under their account or for a PDF copy of the self-study contact Lindsay M. Tarbell, Mental Health ZSI/SPIP Grant Coordinator, at 518.358.3145 x7192 or tarbell.lindsay@srmt-nsn.gov

There are four versions of the Organizational Self-Study. Pick the appropriate one for your organization/team and then you can substitute the appropriate questions in the Indian Country Organizational Self-Study found here:

General Organizational Self- Study Inpatient organizational Self-Study Community-Based Organizations with Clinical Providers Self- Study

 

Teams may choose the self- study they feel is most appropriate.

• Community-Based Organizations without Clinical Providers Self- Study

Contact

Questions?

Please Contact:  Lindsay M. Tarbell, Mental Health ZSI/SPIP Grant Coordinator, at 518.358.3145 x7192 or tarbell.lindsay@srmt-nsn.gov

Speaker Information

Kathy Lisborg

Kathy Lisborg, DSW, LCSW is a senior project associate at the Zero Suicide Institute at the Education Development Center. She has experience in implementation science, organizational trauma-informed care, mental health and substance use treatments with a special focus on LGBTQ issues, grief and trauma.. Her interests focus on how implementation science and trauma-informed care can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations. Before EDC, she implemented Zero Suicide across a four-state community mental health organization and worked to apply trauma-informed care principles to reduce workforce burnout. Previously, she was a therapist at a community mental health agency focusing on trauma, serious and persistent mental illness, substance use, LGBTQ issues, and grief. Lisborg holds a Doctorate in Social Welfare (with a focus on implementation science) and an MSW from University of Buffalo.

Rob England

Rob England (Yurok), MA in Psychology, is the health promotion and education manager in the tribal public health division for United Indian Health Services (UIHS) in Arcata, CA. He oversees and directs health education programs which includes suicide prevention, tobacco control, opioid response and coalition building, domestic violence prevention, and teenage sexual health education.  He previously was the project supervisor for UIHS’ suicide prevention grant. He is a certified trainer in Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). He joined the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Board of Directors for the Greater Bay Area chapter and is one of four co-founders of the Indigenous Peoples’ Committee for the American Association for Suicidology.

Rob has experience at providing presentations at the local, tribal, state and national level.  Highlights have included presenting workshops at the American Association of Suicidology and National Indian Health Board national conferences, presenting information of high suicide rates in his district to Congressman Jared Huffman, providing testimony at the Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color in California, a featured panelist for reducing gun violence for Brady United, and being selected as a featured speaker on the Zero Suicide webinar series on Assessing Workforce Readiness to Provide Comprehensive Suicide Care. His Weaving Culture into Suicide Prevention Strategies webinar was developed into a resource for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center and this cultural strategy was further highlighted in The Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Suicide Prevention in January of 2021.  He received a 2021 National Impact Award through the National Indian Health Board for his work in health care.

Leah Harris

Leah Harris, M.A. is a mother, advocate, storyteller and coach who has written and spoken widely about her lived experiences of trauma, addiction, mental health challenges, resilience, and healing. As a suicide attempt survivor, she advocates for the meaningful inclusion of the perspectives of attempt survivors in all aspects of suicide prevention. She was a member of the Suicide Attempt Survivor Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, and contributed to the landmark document “The Way Forward: Pathways to Hope, Recovery, and Wellness with Insights from Lived Experience.” Ms. Harris is a faculty member with the Zero Suicide Academy, a training for senior leaders of health and behavioral health care organizations that seeks to dramatically reduce suicides among patients in their care. Leah is a peer integration strategist with the National Association for State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD).

Leah Harris is a trainer and consultant to the federally-funded National Center for Trauma-Informed Care (NCTIC). They are a trauma survivor and suicide attempt survivor who brings their lived experience to all aspects of their suicide prevention work. Harris is especially interested in speaking and writing about the intersection of traumatic experience and suicidality, peer support, and mind-body resilience-building skills and strategies.

Learn more about our team