MEDIA RELEASE
May 30, 2023
CESA 7 Offers Free Mental Health Training Opportunities
(Green Bay, WI.) CESA 7 is offering two free statewide mental health training opportunities this summer. Youth Mental Health First Aid will take place July 25th and 26th from 8:00 a.m. until noon each day. This two-day training is for any adult working with teens. Participants will learn about mental health, how to recognize signs of mental health distress, and how to support and connect teens to mental health services.
Suicide Prevention Training QPR: Question, Persuade, and Refer will have two sessions on August 8th. Session one will run from noon to 2:00 p.m. Session two will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Participants will learn about the nature of suicidal communications, how to make immediate interventions and referrals, practice interventions and referrals through role-plays and leave the training with knowledge and skills to recognize the warning signs of suicide, offer hope and get help (how to question, persuade, and refer).
“Student mental health is a growing concern. It is so important for educators, parents, coaches, youth group leaders and members of the community to equip themselves with tools that they can use when interacting with students as well as adults,” Marci Waldron-Kuhn/CESA 7 Director of College, Career and Life Readiness said. “The training being offered at CESA 7 helps reduce the stigma around mental health and increase access to programming and services for students and Adults.”
Suicide affects people of all ages. The following statistics are from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In 2021, suicide was among the top nine leading causes of death for people ages 10-64. Suicide was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-14 and 20-34.
Suicide rates increased by approximately 36% between 2000–2021. Suicide was responsible for 48,183 deaths in 2021, which is about one death every 11 minutes. The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is even higher. In 2021, an estimated 12.3 million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.5 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.7 million attempted Suicide.
“Losing our 17-year-old son Sam was heartbreaking and life-changing. We want to do everything we can to prevent the loss of life to suicide,” Dr. Colleen Timm/CESA 7 Agency Administrator, commented. Through the generosity of our community, we want to strengthen the fabric of our community through these outreach efforts so that we can collectively wrap our arms around our youth, letting them know that they are loved, they matter, and that we are here for them.”
Suicide is preventable, and everyone has a role to play to save lives and create healthy and strong individuals, families, and communities. Suicide prevention requires a comprehensive public health approach. The CDC has developed the Suicide Prevention Resource for Action (Prevention Resource), which provides information on the best available evidence for suicide prevention. This resource and other information from the CDC can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/fa...
All trainings will take place at the CESA 7 Headquarters (595 Baeten Road, Green Bay, WI. 54304)
The training sessions are free, but registration is required for planning purposes.
For more information and to register for the Youth Mental Health First training (July 25th and July 26th), click here.
For more information and to register for the Suicide Prevention Training QPR: Question, Persuade, and Refer session one (August 8, 12:00-2:00 p.m.), click here.
For more information and to register for the Suicide Prevention Training QPR: Question, Persuade, and Refer session two (August 8, 5:30-7:30 p.m.), click here.
There is no charge for these events because of the sponsorship by the Family & Friends of Samuel Timm.
A trusted educational leader for over half a century, CESA 7 supports school districts in preparing students to be college, career, and life ready by providing high-quality and innovative services delivered by recognized experts.
For more information, please contact Marci Waldron-Kuhn at (920)639-9335 or mkuhn@cesa7.org.