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1. The 2023-2027 State Plan has been finalized and is awaiting a signature from the commissioner of health. This plan has been written to guide State Agencies, MDH, Suicide Prevention Taskforce with the main goal of building the capacity of local communities to address mental health and suicide.

2. MN has 7 full time staff within the Suicide Prevention Unit and an evaluator and epidemiologist that support the work.  Our capacity to do the work is high.  In addition MN received a GLS grant, which has built the capacity to address youth suicide prevention within counties with high disparities.

3. MN has funds to grant out to communities. We now have 4 call centers in Minnesota answering 988 phone calls and another that will be starting soon to answer text and chat. In addition to that, an RFP was just released to offer comprehensive suicide prevention grants and regional coordination grants for 2023-2027.

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1. Expansion of our outreach by using virtual means.

2. Availability of two free of cost online courses on the following topics: "Suicide prevention in disaster situations" and "The Role of media in suicide prevention".

3. Online availability of our Suicide Monthly Death Report allowed us to participate in the International COVID-19 Suicide Prevention Research Collaboration study on suicides during the pandemic.

4. Recent submission of an explanatory memorandum in favor of means restrictions on bridges.

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1. WASP- State Coalition
2. Postvention Guide
3. CPG Framework

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1.      There needs to be better collaboration and coordination of all mental health and suicide prevention work happening in the State.  This includes at the State Agency level, within the Minnesota Department of Health and across communities.  This needs to also be done across the mental health continuum to include mental health promotion, early intervention, crisis intervention and postvention.

2.      There are many different initiatives across the State of Minnesota that are working in the prevention space, however, are not aligning to work smarter, not harder.  Many shared risk and protective factors are being worked on, but because of funding barriers, people don’t address them collectively, which then spreads funds and capacity of community partners that are likely on many of the different groups that are working in this space.

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1. Funding and fiscal challenges. This is also an opportunity as we have moved towards submitting applications for federal funding opportunities that have also helped us reformulate our strategic planning and have allowed us to identify activities that we can flow up on without funding, although with some limitations.

Some burning questions we have are:
(1) What evidenced-based or experienced-based strategies have worked for addressing suicide prevention in middle-aged men for other jurisdictions?
(2) How do other jurisdictions fund comprehensive approaches to suicide prevention?)

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1. No dedicated suicide epi
2. Lack of grant funding
3.

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Capacity element #1: Partnerships and Leadership
Reasons for choosing this capacity element

1. There needs to be better partnerships, collaboration, and coordination at the State level to address the needs within our continuum of mental health and suicide prevention services.  This includes what is being done specifically within the MDH and other State Agencies.

2. MDH will be for the first time overseeing the Minnesota Suicide Prevention Regional Coordinators.  There is an opportunity to work on building a strong infrastructure to ensure that what is being done at the State and Taskforce level is being brought back into communities.

Capacity element #2: Risk and Protective Factors
Reasons for choosing this capacity element

1. There are many initiatives across the State that are addressing a variety of shared risk and protective factors.  Examples include addressing substance use and abuse, adverse childhood experiences, mental health promotion, workplace wellness, etc.  There needs to be some direction that we can provide that provide an understanding of the importance of doing this work collaboratively at the local level.  *Note - we are already convening a group to discuss this with those working in the substance use/abuse prevention field.

2. This work doesn't just need to be done at the local level; it will also need to be addressed at the State level to ensure that we are not putting barriers in place with funding requirements.

3. It would be great to focus more on strength (protective factors), rather than only looking at risk and waiting until people are in crisis.

Capacity element #3: Heath Disparities
Reasons for choosing this capacity element

1.  Within the new state plan, we have identified 7 different populations that have disparities.  Instead of just putting them into the plan as populations that have a disparity, it would be good to determine a plan on how to address those disparities.  This could be done within the implementation of the State Plan and/or building the capacity of communities to understand and address the disparities that they have within their own community.

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Capacity element #1: Risk and protective factors
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1. The PR-VDRS has provided us with data on specific risk factors for suicide mortality in the Puerto Rican population which we can utilize to design prevention strategies.
2. There is little information on protective factors specific to Puerto Rico.
3. Working from a public health suicide prevention approach requires addressing these two factors.

Capacity element #2: Data surveillance
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1. We do not have an assigned epidemiologist to analyze the complexities of the data we have available.
2. We would like to expand our data reporting.
3. Make it available for the general population

Capacity element #3: Health Disparities
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1. Health disparities affect the entire population across the archipelago of Puerto Rico
2.
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Capacity element #1: Managed Resources
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1. Identify funding opportunities
2. Grow capacity so we can be well positioned to get grant funds
3. Have project ideas ready to go for when funding might become available

Capacity element #2: Data and surveillance
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1. More data sources are available that we are not using
2. Want to use data more effectively to help identify best strategies at both state and local level
3. Advocate for better data - e.g. coroners and hospital

Capacity element #3: Workforce Capacity
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1. Not currently engaging with all organizational staff
2. Better train prevention specialists
3.

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1.      Develop a plan to start assessing and building coordination/collaboration with mental health and suicide prevention efforts within the Minnesota Department of Health.

2.      Develop a plan to start assessing and building coordination/collaboration with mental health and suicide prevention efforts with other State Agencies within Minnesota.

3.      Put together resources and information on how to address a variety of issues that have shared risk and protective factors.

4.      Determine how to implement the State Plan and work within communities with a health equity lens, to ensure that we are addressing health disparities.

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1. Develop specific policies that can promote suicide prevention in the identified disproportionately affected population in Puerto Rico.
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1.  Working with Suicide Prevention Task Forces across Pennsylvania
2.  Created Language Guide across mental health
3.  Working with creative people across Commonwealth
4. Cross-agency collaboration and a comprehensive statewide suicide prevention plan through the PA Suicide Prevention Task Force.

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1. Need to have real-time data and postvention data from Coroners
2. Need to think outside of the box - training, awareness events, and walks are not enough. Need to have suicide specific training (CAMS-Care), provide LOSS Teams in each county, need for talking to the communities to establish what their needs are by Town Halls, etc
3. Work with people who have lived experience - Attempt and Loss Survivors
4. Improving communication across agencies/organizations and alignment of initiatives to the PA suicide prevention plan.

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Capacity element #1: Data and Surveillance
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1. Want to use data to identify what trends are going on in the community
2. Want to use data to focus on what needs there may be in each community
3. Postvention data creates prevention - info from coroners

Capacity element #2: Suicide Prevention Task Force sharing
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1. Find and share what is working with Task Forces across the state
2. Create a united effort amongst those working with those impacted by suicide
3.  Help create new Task Forces for those counties that have none

Capacity element #3: Better training/trainers, conferences
Reasons for choosing this capacity element
1.  Need to have more knowledgeable trainers/training to recommend across the Commonwealth
2. Need to train more mental health professionals in suicide prevention techniques with suicide-specific training
3. Have informed conferences for all ages and all lived experience and have it affordable to the public

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1. Implementing suicide specific training
2. Real time data and postvention data
3. Interacting with the community to find out their needs