Ohio Governor Mike DeWine recently joined with Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) Director Lori Criss and leadership from the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation to introduce the first-ever, collaborative Suicide Prevention Plan for Ohio that will direct the state’s suicide prevention efforts over the next three years.
Under the direction of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation, a group of 33 Ohioans from the public and private sectors who have professional or personal experience with suicide wrote the plan. The plan directs energy, focus, and resources to implement specific goals and objectives. Data, evidence-based approaches, and lessons learned from current practice informed the development of objectives.
- Raise awareness of the warning signs and risk factors of suicide
- Concentrate efforts on integrating suicide prevention practices into health care, public safety, and education services on the local and state levels
- Build suicide prevention capacity and infrastructure at the organizational, local, and state levels
- Focus prevention efforts on groups identified as having higher rates of suicide, including youths ages 10-24, males ages 25-59, and veterans and military members
- Standardize, gather, and utilize data to continuously inform and evaluate the state’s approach.