What is the Alliance?
The Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide is the leading advocacy group in Oregon working on youth suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. We advocate for effective policy and to create a more connected field to end youth suicide.
The purpose of the Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide is to reduce youth suicides in the state of Oregon. Alliance members are appointed by the Oregon Health Authority to develop a public policy agenda for suicide intervention and prevention across agencies, systems and communities.
In 2014, the Oregon State Legislature mandated development of a 5-year plan to address Oregon’s high rate of suicide among individuals age 10 through 24-years-old. The Oregon Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention Plan was signed by the Oregon Health Authority and submitted to the Legislature in January 2016. The Alliance is charged with overseeing implementation of the plan and evaluating outcomes related to suicide prevention in Oregon.
Embedded throughout the plan is a belief that it is crucial to support Oregon’s youth and families by:
- Promoting a sense of hope and highlighting resilience.
- Make it safe to ask for help and ensuring the right help is available at the right time.
- Engaging individuals and communities in the healing process after an attempt or suicide.
Hope, Help, and Healing Framework
The Alliance spreads Hope by partnering with other organizations to train community members through a variety of evidence-based trainings such as Mental Health First Aid and CONNECT.
The Alliance advocates for a future where people can find the right Help at the right time by helping to pass different legislation such as SB 52, also known as Adi’s Act, which requires Oregon School Districts to have suicide prevention policies in place for students.
The Alliance works towards helping communities foster Healing by advocating alongside community members for effective and necessary legislative changes that will improve access to suicide prevention and better mental health care in Oregon.
Alliance Structure
The Alliance is comprised of community, family members, those with lived experience, subject matter experts, professionals, youth, young adults, stakeholders, leadership from state agencies, and more.
Alliance members are appointed by the Oregon Health Authority and represent a broad range of subject matter experts including youth, suicide attempt survivors and loss survivors. The full Alliance meets quarterly and is staffed by the Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs. The Alliance has six standing committees and advisory groups.
