One call can save a life. But, when a person is in a mental health crisis and has to look-up or remember a 10-digit number, precious minutes can be lost. We need a readily accessible crisis response system as an essential component of our nation’s strategy for mental health intervention and suicide prevention. Having a…
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month Oklahoma has the tenth highest suicide rate in the country and suicide is the second leading cause of death for Oklahoma youth ages 10-24. That is 31% higher than the national average. And since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in suicide…
Navigating amid a worldwide pandemic is one of the hardest experiences to handle. Many are in areas where the coronavirus infection rates are getting worse. Others are bracing for what may come next. And most of the country are watching the headlines and wondering, “When is this going to end?” According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the coronavirus pandemic…
After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, the Community Response Team (CRT) has resumed services in Tulsa. CRT is an integral part of the City of Tulsa’s Community Policing program. This 3-person co-responder model consisting of Tulsa Police Department (TPD), Tulsa Fire Department (TFD) and Family & Children’s Services Community Outreach Psychiatric Emergency Services (COPES) responds…
A year of strife, unrest and an ongoing pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the marginalized and minority communities. A new report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that while suicide rates between 1999 and 2017 rose for nearly all racial and ethnic groups analyzed, disparities among those groups are substantial. The…
