About the Academy 

Description  

Join Jan Ulrich and Laurin Jozlin, Zero Suicide Institute Senior Project Associates, for a two-day, online Zero Suicide launch event. This event is co-sponsored by the Vermont Department of Health, Vermont Department of Mental Health, Vermont Suicide Prevention Center, and Vermont Center for Health and Learning. 

 The Zero Suicide Academy is a two-day training for senior leaders of health and mental health care organizations that seek to dramatically reduce suicides among youth and young adults 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 youth and young adults at risk of suicide. Zero Suicide faculty provides both interactive presentations and small group sessions, collaborating with participants to develop organization-specific action plans. 

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Following the Vermont Youth Zero Suicide Academy, organizations will be invited to join a 9-month Community of Practice, which consists of monthly 90-minute virtual sessions designed to provide technical assistance and support for organizations implementing practice improvements within their programs based on the Zero Suicide model. 

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Eligibility

Vermont healthcare organizations, mental health programs, inpatient treatment facilities, hospital diversion programs, developmental disability providers, child welfare and juvenile justice programs, youth residential treatment programs, as well as substance use disorder programs are encouraged to apply.   

Participating organizations should have a primary focus of serving youth and/or young adults (up to age 24).  This Academy is intended for organizations and programs and not intended for individual clinicians in private practice.  

Participating organizations will also be expected to: 

• Bring a team (a team must consist of more than one person).  Suggested team members listed below under ‘Participant Eligibility' 
• Attend the two-day Zero Suicide Academy on May 24 and 25, 2023 
• Full team is expected to participate in a one-hour pre-academy on May 17 from 12pm-1pm ET and a one-hour post-academy on June 27 from 11am-12pm ET 
• Participation in the Vermont Youth Zero Suicide Community of Practice Series, which will consist of nine monthly 90-minute virtual sessions from September 2023-May 2024.  Specific dates and times TBD. 
• The Vermont Youth Zero Suicide Academy and Community of Practice is free to all participating programs through the generous funding of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Garrett Lee Smith program. 

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. 

Contact

Questions? Please Contact:

• Nick Nichols at nick.nichols@vermont.gov regarding program questions
• Zero Suicide Institute at info@zerosuicideinstitute.com regarding application assistance   

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. Medical Director, Executive Director, Program Director, Quality Management Director)

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

 

 

Application Instructions

All organizations wishing to be considered for the Zero Suicide Academy will submit the application by clicking ‘apply’ below by April 21, 2023. The completed application will be reviewed by Zero Suicide Institute (ZSI); a complete application will be required including at least 4 team members information.  

Organizations are strongly encouraged to complete a Zero Suicide organizational self-study as part of their application process.  Organizations currently engaged in implementation of Zero Suicide may submit an existing organizational self-study completed within the last year.  

Only one application is submitted per team by the lead applicant who must be one of the team members. 

Organizational Self-Study

Applicants are encouraged to complete a Zero Suicide Organizational Self-Study as part of their application.

Please choose from the first two options: 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. 

If you have questions or concerns about the Organizational Self Study email info@zerosuicideinstitute.com and reference Vermont in the subject line.   

Go to Organizational Self Study