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Suicide is a leading cause of death for Colorado’s youth and young adults. The encouraging news is that there are many effective suicide prevention programs that can bring hope, connectedness, and recovery to young people struggling with thoughts of suicide. Suicide is always a complex issue, and suicide is never the result of one cause. The complexity of suicide holds true for youth and adults, where suicide risk is a culmination of various factors, and never the result of just one cause.
The Office of Suicide Prevention works to prevent suicide for Colorado’s youth and young adults through upstream prevention, prevention, intervention, and postvention. Explore the links below to learn more.
Informational material
Materials created by the Office of Suicide Prevention are free to download and share. Hard copies of materials are available by submitting an Office of Suicide Prevention Materials Order Form.
- Mental Health and Suicide Prevention How to Talk to Children and Youth | Spanish (PDF)
- Suicide Prevention for Youth Brochure | Spanish (PDF)
- Suicide Prevention for LGBTQ+ Youth Brochure | Spanish (PDF)
- Suicide Prevention for Trusted Adults Brochure | Spanish (PDF)
- Safe-Guard Your Home-A Guide to Suicide Prevention at Home | Spanish (PDF)
- Sleeping to Prevent Suicide (PDF)
- Suicide Among Youth in Colorado, 2013-2017: Ages 10-18 (PDF)
- Suicide Among Young Adults in Colorado, 2014-2019: Ages 19-24 (PDF)
- The Suicide Prevention Commission’s Revised Recommendation on Supporting LGBTQIA2S+ Youth and Young Adults (PDF)
- The Suicide Prevention Commission’s Recommendation on Supporting Black, Indigenous, and Youth of Color (PDF)
- The Suicide Prevention Commission's Recommendation on Supporting Young Adults (ages 19-24) (PDF)
- A Colorado Call to Action for Boys’ and Men’s Mental Health (PDF)
- The Suicide Prevention Commission’s Recommendation on Disordered Eating and Suicide Prevention for Youth (PDF)
- Crisis Services in Colorado (PDF)
Bullying
Death by suicide is complex and multifaceted: while bullying does not cause suicide, exposure to bullying elevates the overall risk of suicidal ideation for perpetrators, bystanders, and targets of bullying. Bullying is also associated with a reduced sense of connectedness, diminishing a key protective factor against suicide among youth. The impacts of bullying are particularly harmful to youth when combined with systems of discrimination and oppression. These stressors exacerbate the extant link between bullying and suicidal ideation for youth in marginalized communities.
The Office of Suicide Prevention works to prevent bullying and suicide by bolstering shared protective factors. We encourage partners to:
- Create inclusive, connected environments.
- Foster meaningful relationships between youth and trusted adults.
- Promote positive interpersonal interactions.
- Systematically address all forms of interpersonal violence, discrimination, and harassment.
Visit the Colorado Department of Education's bullying prevention website to find resources to promote protective factors and prevent bullying with schools, youth, and families.
The Trevor Project
- The Trevor Project is the leading national organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) young people ages 13-24. The hotline is available 24/7/365: 1-866-488-7386
Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC)
The Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC) assists in creating safe, positive, and successful school environments for Colorado students in all pre-K-12 and higher education schools.
Second Wind Fund
The Second Wind Fund is a Colorado-based nonprofit that removes financial and social barriers to provide treatment for youth (up to age 19) experiencing thoughts of suicide.
Youth Mental Health First Aid
Youth Mental Health First Aid was designed to teach adults how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addiction challenge or is in crisis.
The Child Fatality Prevention System
The Child Fatality Prevention System annual legislative report for data on youth suicide and prevention recommendations provides more information on suicide among Coloradans under 18.
Community Organizing for Prevention
Community Organizing for Prevention is a proven five-phase change process that uses prevention science to promote healthy youth development, improve youth outcomes, and reduce problem behaviors.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) provides resources and information related to suicide prevention.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP): Colorado Chapter
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), Colorado Chapter is a nonprofit organization that focuses on suicide prevention through innovative programs, educating the public, raising funds for suicide research and programs, and reaching out to those who have lost someone to suicide.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Colorado
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Colorado is a mental health organization with a mission to build communities of recovery and hope by educating, supporting, and advocating for individuals and their families affected by mental illness.
Mental Health Colorado
Mental Health Colorado is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for the more than one million Coloradans who experience a mental health or substance use disorder each year.
The Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado (SPCC)
The Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado (SPCC) is a nonprofit whose mission is to reduce suicide and its impact on all Coloradans through advocacy, collaboration, and education.
Safe2Tell 1-877-542-SAFE (7233)
Safe2Tell provides young people an anonymous way to report any threatening behaviors or activities endangering themselves or someone they know.
Having a comprehensive suicide prevention policy in place can help K-12 schools and institutions of higher education reduce the likelihood that a young person will attempt or die by suicide and can help schools respond if a young person dies by suicide. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention is applicable for education levels K-12. Preventing suicide depends not only on suicide prevention policies but also on a comprehensive approach. This approach promotes a wellness culture that encompasses social and mental health and the participation of families and communities.
Elementary School
The Good Behavior Game
- The Good Behavior Game is a classroom behavior management game that provides a strategy to help elementary teachers reduce aggressive, disruptive behavior and other behavioral problems in children while creating a positive and effective learning environment.
Gizmo 4 Mental Health
Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health Guide takes an upstream approach to support the mental health and wellness of youth. It is data-driven and evidence-informed. The Guide seeks to introduce mental health and wellness, and how to care for one’s mental health in a non-threatening way that encourages the self-identification of warning signs and when to apply the use of internal and external healthy coping strategies to help reduce risk. It introduces the characteristics of trusted adults, who may be one, how to practice talking with a trusted adult, and promotes proactive communication. It gives youth the opportunity to create a personal mental health plan (of action) that they can use daily and in a time of need that can help them avert a crisis.
Middle and High School
Sources of Strength
- Sources of Strength is a best-practice, upstream school suicide prevention program that emphasizes resilience and positive youth development.
Resources for Youth Suicide Prevention and Intervention
- An ongoing challenge for schools is programs to address youth suicide prevention. This guide provides descriptions of effective programs, according to the target audience. Colorado School Safety Resource Center(CSSRC)’s Resources for Youth Suicide Prevention and Intervention also includes information on screening tools, and other resources to help your school address this issue.
School Climate Toolkit
- The School Climate Toolkit is a positive school climate toolkit for public health practitioners
Signs of Suicide
- Signs of Suicide (SOS) is an evidence-based youth suicide prevention program that has demonstrated an improvement in students’ knowledge and adaptive attitudes about suicide risk and depression.
The School Mental Health Toolkit
- The School Mental Health Toolkit is a blueprint for school mental health services that includes strategies for implementing, funding, and sustaining mental health services in schools.
Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools provides schools with resources related to preventing youth suicide.
The After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools – 2nd Edition
- The “After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools – 2nd Edition” is a postvention guide (after a suicide death) for schools.
The Hub
- The Healthy Schools Hub is a place where Colorado schools can access a wide variety of resources, training opportunities, events, and curricula.
Higher Education
Postvention: A Guide for Response to Suicide on College Campuses
- The Postvention: A Guide for Response to Suicide on College Campuses is a guide for college campuses after a suicide death has occurred.
You @ College
- You @ College is an innovative digital tool that serves as a comprehensive resource hub for students.
The Hub
- The Healthy Schools Hub is a place where Colorado schools can access a wide variety of resources, training opportunities, events, and curricula.
FERPA and information sharing
- An 8-minute video by Attorney General Cynthia Coffman on FERPA and information sharing.
Culture Forward: A Strengths and Culture-Based Tool to Protect Native Youth from Suicide
Culture Forward: A Strengths and Culture-Based Tool to Protect Native Youth from Suicide rovides tribal leaders, youth, Elders, health and human service providers, and other change agents with evidence-based ideas and community-based solutions to leverage strengths within Native communities to protect youth against suicide.
GatekeeperTrainings
GatekeeperTrainings teaches people to identify individuals who are showing warning signs of suicide risk and to help these individuals get the services they need.
Family Friendly Toolkit
The Family Friendly Toolkit provides evidence-based best practice examples of policies and approaches that can create a more family-friendly workplace.
Health systems
Health systems are a crucial partner in comprehensive suicide prevention, including primary care and the Zero Suicide commitment.
Local public health departments
Local public health departments play a key role in prioritizing prevention activities, promoting best practice interventions, and making connections within the community following a suicide death.
Faith-based groups
Faith-based groups contribute to suicide prevention by increasing hope, supporting emotional well-being, and fostering the development of positive social connections.
Colorado Crisis Services and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- Colorado Crisis Services (1-844-493-8255) services the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) for Colorado callers. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is made up of call centers around the country, and its website contains additional helpful information pertinent to suicide prevention in the USA.
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The Office of Suicide Prevention works to prevent suicide for Colorado’s youth and young adults through upstream prevention, prevention, intervention, and postvention.