Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimer County

Background Statement

Colorado consistently ranks in the top ten states for the highest suicide rate. Currently, Colorado has the 5th highest rate in the nation and Larimer County has the 6th highest rate in the state. Last year, 82 people died by suicide in Larimer County. While this is extremely tragic, it does not mean that there is not hope. Suicide is a community problem and must be addressed by the whole community. There are things that we can all do to lower the suicide rate and saves lives. Annually our free programs reach out to thousands of people in our community providing invaluable information that could save a life.

The Alliance for Suicide Prevention of Larimer County (ASP) has been in operation for 30 years. We prevent suicide in Larimer County through training and education, providing outreach and offering support. Historically, we have carried out our mission through three main program areas:

ASP's REPLY suicide prevention training was delivered to more middle and high school students than ever before - over 5000 students! Hundreds of students requested support and connected to mental health professionals through this program. Our Teen Self-Care Fair drew the largest crowd ever, 625 teens and their adults learned new self care skills and connected with dozens of community providers. We also connected with teen and youth serving organizations where 1100 adults attended events focus on youth mental health. We piloted our first elementary suicide prevention program, Mental Might, that will be delivered by teen volunteers.

Our Adult Education Programming (QPR and Hope for Today) trained and certified 2,400 community members, that's 900 more than last year! Our Heartbeat grief support group provides postvention services to anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide.

Because the suicide rate in Larimer County continues to be at such an alarming level, ASP has expanded its approach and programming to offer a more active role in the community. In 2019 ASP created direct outreach to the populations that are the highest at risk; Veterans and LGBTQ+ youth. Recently, we partnered with OBC (Out Boulder County) to expand services in Northern Colorado. Connect with Intention invited our Veteran and Veteran serving organizations to collaborate and connect this summer. Looking forward, we are participating in a Colorado initiative to provide suicide prevention training to Older Adults. Our outreach efforts extended to 600 more local businesses, and we developed relationships with construction companies across Northern Colorado to provide suicide prevention training and resources.

Additionally, in 2019 ASP merged with the Imagine Zero Coalition of Larimer County to serve as the backbone agency. The Imagine Zero Coalition is a member of the Colorado National Collaborative (CNC) that is made up of agencies from 6 counties across the state along with the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention, CDC, and other national partners. The work of the CNC and Imagine Zero Coalition is to implement over 50 unique prevention strategies bundled together through the collective impact model. The six main bundles, or "pillars" are Connectedness, Education and Awareness, Lethal Means Safety, Suicide Safer Care, Economic Stability, and Postvention. The ultimate goal of this work is to reduce suicide by 20% by 2024.