South Carolina Department of Corrections, South Carolina Department of Mental Health, and associated behavioral health partners are encouraged to apply by August 29, 2025 for the Zero Suicide Academy® in Columbia, SC, sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health.
About the Academy
Dates
Academy Part 1: Introducing Zero Suicide (2 hours- Virtual)
Tuesday, September 30th, 2025 from 11:00pm-1:00pm ET
Academy Part 2: Implementing Zero Suicide (2 days- In Person)
Thursday, October 9th, 2025 from 10:00am-5:00pm ET
Friday, October 10th, 2025 from 8:00am-3:00pm ET
Academy Part 3: Sustaining Zero Suicide (2 hours- Virtual)
Thursday, November 6th, 2025 from 11:00pm-1:00pm ET
Description
The Zero Suicide Academy® is EDC’s signature learning series for health and behavioral health organizations seeking to dramatically reduce suicides among those in their care. Led by EDC’s expert Zero Suicide staff and faculty at your location, the Zero Suicide Academy provides up to 16 teams from health and behavioral health organizations with an invaluable opportunity to kick off or reinvigorate their Zero Suicide implementation, learn about the Zero Suicide framework and seven elements, begin strategic implementation planning, and prepare for commonly faced challenges. Teams will also have an opportunity to network with similar organizations and establish relationships with each other and our team for ongoing assistance.
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 of suicide. The event includes both interactive presentations and small group sessions. There is time for our staff and faculty to collaborate with teams to develop organization-specific action plans.
Location
Phillips Market Center
117 Ballard Court
West Columbia, SC 29172
Eligibility
South Carolina Department of Corrections, South Carolina Department of Mental Health, and associated behavioral health partners are eligible to attend this Academy.
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 and sustain their effort.
- Create opportunities for participating teams to share knowledge, perspectives, and implementation stories to inform, encourage and support Zero Suicide initiatives.
- Engage participating teams in activities and discussions to aid in enhancing staff readiness and short-term implemetation plans to support the Zero Suicide initiatives in their organization.
Contact
Questions? Please Contact:
Jessic Potito at jessica.potito@scdmh.org regarding eligibility.
Zero Suicide Institute at solutions@edc.org regarding application assistance.
How To Apply
(See content expanded below for Participant Eligibility and Application Instructions)
- Participant Eligibility
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Only South Carolina Department of Corrections, South Carolina Department of Mental Health, and associated behavioral health partners are eligible to attend this Academy. Applicants are to attend the Zero Suicide Academy with a team of 4 individuals (including the team lead).
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 directly 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
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All organizations wishing to be considered for the Zero Suicide Academy will submit the application by clicking the ‘apply’ button by August 29, 2025, 6 p.m. ET.
Please submit one application per team. Individual team members do not have to register separately. The application should be under the team lead and list all team members.
Application submission should include the following:
- 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. You can review a template with suggested language here.
- When completing the application, you will be asked to provide:
- Contact information for your team members
- A brief description of your team’s relevant skills, knowledge, and experience.
- Your team's goals for participating in the Zero Suicide Academy
Shelby Kuhn delivers training and consultation to improve care and outcomes for individuals at risk for suicide using a continuous quality improvement framework.
Laurin Jozlin, senior project associate, is a licensed clinical social worker with 10 years of experience in suicide prevention, suicide intervention, community mental health, and child and adolescent mental health.
Amy Molloy, senior project associate, is a behavioral health expert with 14 years of leadership experience in suicide prevention, mental health promotion, veterans’ services, and education.
Learn more