“You, Your Experience – Together, Our Voice”

1. “You, Your Experience – Together, Our Voice” Welcome John Madigan – Senior Director of Public Policy, AFSP

2. “You, Your Experience – Together, Our Voice” 2011 Chapter Public Policy Survey Results Nancy Farrell– Chair, State and Local Policy Subcommittee

3. AFSP Public Policy Council Michael Ballard (Chair) – Virginia Keith Cherry – Pennsylvania Charles Curie – Maryland Nancy Farrell – Massachusetts Sean Gerow – New York Carol Graham – Georgia Sean Joe – Michigan Philip Ninan - Georgia Laurie Raines – Virginia Anne Reinke – Washington, DC Charles Reynolds – Pennsylvania Leslie Scallet (Vice-Chair) – Washington, DC

4. AFSP State/Local Policy Subcommittee Steve Blackwood – Arkansas Lisa Brattain – Indiana Nancy Farrell (Chair) – Massachusetts Todd Handler – California Mary Weiler – North Dakota

5. AFSP STRATEGIC POLICY TASK FORCE (SPTF) GOALS (2012-2020): Identify major public policy challenges that confront us in advancing suicide prevention Create a framework to guide the selection of annual legislative and regulatory priorities at the federal, state and local level Provide a context for considering emerging issues “AFSP is the only organization of its kind in the field of suicide prevention, education and research. It will be the responsibility of the Task Force to get ‘all points of view’ as we start to complete this important endeavor.” – Leslie Scallet, Chair SPTF

6. AFSP SPTF MEMBERS Nancy Farrell – AFSP, Massachusetts Arana Greenberg – AFSP, California Nadine Kaslow – Emory University, Georgia Maury Lieberman – AFSP Board Member, District of Columbia Danna Mauch – Abt Associates, Massachusetts Peter Newbould – American Psychological Association, District of Columbia Joe Perpich – Psychiatrist, Lawyer, District of Columbia Leslie Scallet – Vice-Chair, AFSP Public Policy Council, District of Columbia Mike Ballard – ex-officio – Chair, AFSP Public Policy Council, Virginia Robert Gebbia – ex-officio – AFSP Executive Director, New York John Madigan – ex-officio – AFSP Senior Director of Public Policy, District of Columbia

7. AFSP PUBLIC POLICY SURVEY RESULTS Surveys were completed by 97* individuals from 23 states and the District of Columbia The following states with AFSP chapters submitted the most survey responses: California and New York (9) Illinois (8) Florida (5) Georgia (4) Arkansas, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Texas (3) *Out of a total of 209 surveys sent out (some responses a result of collective input)

8. WHO SUBMITTED RESPONSES? • Public Policy Survey responses were submitted by: • Chapter Board Officers (36) • Chapter Board Members (11) • Chapter Advocacy Committee Chairs or Members (8) • AFSP Volunteers (16) • Chapter Staff (9) • Other (17) • Includes health professionals, survivors of a suicide attempt, crisis workers, and other professionals • 69 respondents also identified as suicide survivors • 43 respondents also identified as Field Advocates

9. #5 WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE 3 BIGGEST BARRIERS TO EFFORTS TO REDUCE SUICIDE IN THE UNITED STATES? • Of the 96 responses: • Stigma (62) • Funding of suicide prevention programs/activities (28) • Access to services (19) • Public ignorance/awareness (17)

10. #6 WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE 3 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS OR SHOULD BE DOING TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF SUICIDE? • Of the 94 responses, the most common to appear were: • Increased efforts around public education and federally backed anti-stigma campaigns (43) • Providing for better access and funding of mental health services (23) • Increased funding into research on suicide (15) • Mental health/suicide prevention training programs (6)

11. #7 WHAT DO YOU THINK STATE GOVERNMENTS SHOULD DO THAT WOULD HELP PREVENT SUICIDE? • Of the 93 responses to this question, the following appeared the most: • Mandate suicide prevention training and education (52) • Increase access to mental health care (12) • Acknowledge that suicide is a statewide problem/prevention is a statewide priority and increase awareness (9) • Implement/update a statewide suicide prevention plan and ensure the plan is being followed, or provide for a state office of suicide prevention (8) • Support local suicide prevention efforts (5) • Allocate/increase funding for all the above areas (25)

12. #8 ARE THERE IDEAS, POLICIES OR APPROACHES TO SUICIDE PREVENTION THAT WE COULD LEARN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES? • Of the 63 responses, the most common were: • Don’t know/Need more information (42) • Mental Health First Aid, Australia – Described as a useful crash course in crisis intervention, substance abuse and mental illness for the lay person (2) • Unique responses included (descriptions provided by respondent): • An effort in Scotland to educate their public sector workers that include cab drivers, bus drivers and police officers about signs of depression and suicide warning signs • An effort in Bhutan that measures “gross national happiness,” the idea being that by measuring this it would bring about a constant, ongoing awareness of mental health

13. #9 WHERE DO YOU THINK THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES LIE FOR MAKING PROGRESS TO PREVENT OR REDUCE SUICIDE IN THE U.S.? • The 92 responses included: • General public education about suicide prevention, depression, crisis intervention • Make more people aware of what resources are available in the community • Training in best practices for medical professionals, school personnel and law enforcement in dealing with those clearly at risk • LGBT and Native American communities • Celebrity endorsements to break stigma • Talking to and education of youth at earliest age appropriate • Educating media about how to report on suicide and on suicide prevention activities

14. # 10 WHAT NATIONAL, STATE OR LOCAL GROUPS DO YOU FIND EFFECTIVE IN PROMOTING SUICIDE PREVENTION? • Of the 84 responses: • AFSP/Out of the Darkness Walks (25) • National Alliance on Mental Illness (5) • Trevor Project (5) • Suicide Prevention Resource Center (3) • SPAN Georgia, American Association of Suicidology, Mental Health America (2) • Other responses included: • Arkansas Suicide Prevention Network • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline • Los Angeles Department of Health • San Francisco Suicide Prevention • Statewide Advocacy for Veterans Empowerment [Massachusetts] • Texas Suicide Prevention Council • University of Michigan Depression Center

15. #11 WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE LEADING DOMESTIC PUBLIC POICY DEBATES IN THE COMING YEARS THAT MAY HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE PROBLEM OF SUICIDE? • Of the 78 responses, the most common included: • Access to health care treatment/health care reform implementation/mental health parity (41) • Military/Veteran suicides and mental health of the veteran population (10) • Federal/State budget circumstances that will lead to cuts in mental health services, funding of suicide prevention programs (8) • Bullying (6) • Gun control (5) • LGBTQ related issues (3)

16. #12 WHAT DO YOU THINK IS BEING DONE ABOUT SUICIDE PREVENTION THAT IS NOT WORKING OUT WELL AND NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED? • Of the 73 responses to this question: • Education and training in schools, health care settings, places of employment and for community members at the grassroots level (27) • Collaboration and communication; duplication of efforts (13) • Funding levels for rural communities, high-risk groups, research, training and staffing (11) • Combating stigma and increasing awareness (8) • Access to quality care (6) • Media campaigns around suicide prevention (6) • Promotion of evidence-based programs (5)

17. # 13 IN YOUR WORK, IS SUICIDE SOMETHING YOU ENCOUNTER? IS THERE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE CHANGED THAT WOULD MAKE YOUR WORK EASIER OR MORE EFFECTIVE? • Of the 81 responses, 50 individuals reported encountering suicide as part of their work • A total of 42 respondents offered suggestions for change; the most common included: • Need for training of groups like media, law enforcement, medical professionals, military family/friends and school personnel (14) • Need for funding of suicide prevention/mental health programs and services (14) • Increased collaboration and communication (8) • Increased number of programs/resources for survivors (7) • Need for suicide prevention knowledge/resources, including culturally appropriate resources, within the health care system (6)

18. # 14 ARE THERE ISSUES RELATED TO SUICIDE PREVENTION THAT YOU THINK THE AFSP PUBLIC POLICY OFFICE NEEDS TO TAKE A LOOK AT? • Of the 72 responses, 4 unique issues were presented: • Requiring labels on gun safety locks to have the toll-free suicide hotline number • Changing laws to get mental health treatment for people like the recent Tucson shooter • States looking to take away the right to vote for those people with mental health issues • Are survivors more at risk of suicide themselves? • Current issue areas needing more attention: • State cutbacks in suicide prevention programs and services • LGBT/Native American youth • Bullying • Media issues – reporting/not reporting, contagion issues • Bridge barriers • Military/Veteran suicide • Funding of mental health programs • More work on the connection of substance and alcohol abuse to suicide • Insurance companies not paying on policies of those who die by suicide

19. THANK YOU! For more information contact: John Madigan – jmadigan@afsp.org 202-449-3600 ext. 103 Trevor Summerfield – tsummerfield@afsp.org 202-449-3600 ext. 102