LivingWorks Education LP Is Awarded Suicide Prevention Training Contract With CalMHSA
Online, October 3, 2011 (Newswire.com) - LivingWorks Education LP has been selected to provide gatekeeper training for the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) and its statewide Suicide Prevention Initiative, the first of 3 comprehensive Prevention and Early Intervention Statewide Initiatives supported by Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funds. CalMHSA, and the 25 contractors working as part of the statewide initiatives, are dedicated to efficiently and effectively reducing suicides, reducing mental health stigma and resulting discrimination and to improve student mental health in California. LivingWorks Education, receiving one of 10 announced contracts, will provide suicide-intervention skills training to community members and professionals throughout California. Together, the awardees will provide prevention services to clients throughout the state including serving as the focal point for statewide suicide prevention activities, working to reduce service gaps, creating a social marketing campaign, expanding the number and capacity of accredited local suicide prevention hot lines and warm lines, and developing program curricula that will address professionals across systems and disciplines.
In April 2010, the Department of Mental Health (DMH) contracted with CalMHSA to administer the funding and implementation of mental health services, projects and educational programs at the state, regional and local levels. The contract is statewide and will be for approximately $1 million dollars over a 3-year period. LivingWorks will train 192 new Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) trainers strategically recruited from nationally accredited crisis center partners, county health members and other locally situated and appropriate organizations in CalMHSA member counties. Partners include The Effort in Sacramento, Contra Costa Crisis Center, Walnut Creek, and the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services Suicide Prevention Center in Los Angeles. Along with the new ASIST Trainers, the proposed delivery to train 33,000 ASIST participants, 100 new safeTALK trainers and 38,000 safeTALK-trained participants, and 2900 online sessions of e-suicideTALK.
LivingWorks Education has a long and history training and piloting suicide-intervention skills training in California and with the Didi Hirsch Center. The original three-year contract was annually extended and funded until 1996, seven years beyond original expiry date. California trainers continue to deliver training throughout the state and LivingWorks is excited about training a new generation of trainers in the LivingWorks suite of programs - ASIST, safeTALK and suicideTALK.
About LivingWorks Education
LivingWorks Education is a suicide intervention training company. LivingWorks trains community helpers of all kinds to work in this intervention context. LivingWorks is a social enterprise corporation, employing all of the financial discipline, innovation and determination of any private sector business to achieve its mission. This business foundation allows us to develop collaborative partnerships with private and public organizations around the world without compromising training standards.
LivingWorks business philosophy is based on the belief that "suicide can be prevented and communities made suicide-safer." LivingWorks has been the leader in this field for over twenty-eight years. The developers are a multidisciplinary team that includes education, medicine, nursing, psychiatry, psychology, social work and spiritual perspectives. LivingWorks have been and continue to be connected with and contributing to the international community of suicide prevention knowledge. For more information, go to http://www.livingworks.net.
About CalMHSA
The California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) is joint powers authority (JPA) of California counties and is focused on the efficient delivery of California Mental Health Projects. Member counties jointly develop, fund, and implement mental health services, projects, and educational programs at the state, regional, and local levels. The following 45 counties are members of CalMHSA: Amador, Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Kern, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yuba, Ventura and Yolo. For more information, go to http://calmhsa.org.
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Contact:
Jerry Swanner,
Executive Director,
LivingWorks Education LP
PO Box 9607, Fayetteville, NC
28311 USA
t. 910.867.8822