Last month, in honor of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, Beacon Mental Health collaborated with a few other agencies on a Proclamation for Suicide Prevention with the Parkville Board of Alderman. The Proclamation states that during the last two decades, youth suicide has reached its highest rate in more than 20 years. It's a commitment [...]
Since its launch in July 2022, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has answered over 10 million texts, calls and chats. The number of calls to 988 from Missouri jumped 136% in May 2024 compared to May 2022, according to recent data from the health policy nonprofit KFF. Did You Know? The lifeline was originally [...]
Our Youth Services and Prevention Teams are doing amazing things for our community, and we just have to brag on them for a minute! They are consistently recognized for having some of the highest implementation rates, and have built a successful “Signs of Suicide” program, continuing to grow and incorporate a solid foundation for suicide [...]
Hope Squad is a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program serving 3rd-12th grade throughout the entire North Kansas City school district (32 schools!) and three elementary schools in the Smithville school district. Hope Squad members are nominated by their classmates as trustworthy peers and trained by advisors. The program reduces youth suicide through education, training, and peer [...]
Saturday, July 16, 2022 was the official launch of a new hotline to help people nationwide get the mental health services they need when in a crisis. Similar to 911, 988 is designed for people to call when they need mental health help specifically. Of course, people will still be able to call Tri-County Mental [...]
In an article we were reading recently about depression and the pandemic, we noticed the importance of “check-in calls.” Dr. Gary Sachs, from the Harvard Medical School, noted that not only are check-in phone calls helpful for those who receive them, they also help the people making the calls. After making a call, the caller [...]
