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Could a Simple Intervention Fight a Suicide Crisis?

Sarah Weiser

October 21, 2020 |

PBS |

Broadcast TV Programs |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

In the 1960s, a psychologist and a team of researchers in San Francisco began sending “caring letters" as a means of suicide intervention, but the practice didn't continue outside of the research study, despite showing positive results. Today though, a clinical psychologist has begun to reintroduce the intervention, via text messages and emails, as a practice to specifically help U.S. service members and veterans.

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The Courage to Listen

Meg Daly

October 15, 2020 |

Jackson Hole Community Radio (KHOL) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jackson, Wyoming

Following a series of public controversies over sexual assault, Jackson's Community Safety Network convened a series of training seminars to foster a response that no amount of legislation or criminal prosecutions could offer: to cultivate culture change based on greater understanding and empathy about what survivors go through. The seminars capitalized on a surge in public interest, and misunderstandings, surrounding sexual assault allegations against a public official and other public officials' behavior. One survivor who was encouraged to go public praised the community effort.

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We Hear You

James Boo Cathy Erway Julia Shu

October 15, 2020 |

Self Evident |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Early in the pandemic, APIENC, a community organization led by trans, non-binary, and queer Asian and Pacific Islanders in San Francisco, started a phone tree to offer help to people: getting groceries or meals, providing emotional support, or whatever else was needed in a community experiencing racial and other forms of bias on top of pandemic stresses. Only one person took the help – until the group held workshops on how to ask for help. Dozens of requests for help could then be met. This is the middle segment in the third in a series on anti-Asian racism during the pandemic.

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San Francisco Doula Program Tackles Birth Equity and Economic Justice in One Fell Swoop

Sarah Kwon

October 14, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

A doula program in San Francisco is helping to create jobs and build equity in maternal health, especially for Black mothers. Training is free for the client as well as for the doulas, with trainees also receiving mentorship and full benefits. To date, the organization has raised nearly $1 million for operational expenses from a variety of channels including "foundations, a city-managed health plan, and revenue from a local sugary drinks tax."

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How Do You Get Gun Owners To Give Up Their Guns During A Crisis? Ask.

Leigh Paterson

September 29, 2020 |

KUNC |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Craig, Colorado

"Voluntary storage" of guns is a growing movement that seeks to reduce gun suicides while avoiding political clashes with gun-rights advocates by instead promoting safety without government coercion. The Means Matter Campaign, Gun Shop Project, and a number of other private programs take what has long happened informally – friends disarming friends to prevent tragedy during a crisis – and promotes such practices as a public-health response. While research quantifying its effects is scant, anecdotes abound of people at risk being talked into surrendering their guns temporarily.

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Changing their minds, and their lives: A way out of poverty in Philadelphia

Harold Brubaker

September 12, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The MindSet program adopts 30 people per year for a five-year "mobility mentoring" program, coaching people living in poverty to set clear goals and helping them save toward economic independence. Run by the nonprofit Episcopal Community Services and modeled on Boston's EMPath (Economic Mobility Pathways), MindSet rejects traditional case management and approaches that merely maintain people's lifestyle, focusing instead on plotting a path to a better future. More testing is needed on its effectiveness, but EMPath participants increased their annual income from $16,000 to $47,000.

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From life in prison to out on parole: One group easing the transition

Patricia Leigh Brown

August 14, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

California, home to an unprecedented number of prison "lifers" who served decades since their teens and then were released under revised parole policies, created the Peer Reentry Navigation Network (PRNN) to have fellow former lifers coach and hold accountable the newly released. Now in 28 communities, PRNN has formed a community of peer mentors helping the formerly incarcerated remake their lives on the outside after lives of violence and trauma. The mentors' 24/7 help covers behavioral advice, job leads, and rebuilding family relationships. Despite some missteps, most mentees have stayed out of trouble.

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‘We're writing the book' - McCracken jail sees strong early success from vocational programs

Dave Thompson

August 09, 2020 |

The Paducah Sun |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Paducah, Kentucky

Vocational training and life skills classes at the McCracken County Regional Jail help prepare incarcerated people for stable jobs and living situations once they are released. Of the first 16 to complete vocational training, none have returned to jail and 12 are employed, despite the poor job market during the pandemic. Though the results so far are small and early, jail officials are working to expand the available programs to more people. Particularly useful not only to the incarcerated people but also to their families are cognitive skills classes, which vocational students are required to take as well.

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Leaving Gun Towers and Barbed Wire for a Healing House

Patricia Leigh Brown

August 07, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

A New Way of Life Reentry Project creates homes for women as they leave prison, providing a refuge and programs to help ensure a more successful transition into life on the outside. The network of small group homes, started in Los Angeles and expanded to 16 houses in multiple states, boast a 90% success rate. New Way’s approach prizes ordinary homes in residential neighborhoods, unlike jail-like settings common in transitional housing, which generally caters to men. Classes include careers, therapy, and family reunification.

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Scotland's 'Navigators' Transform Lives in the Emergency Room

Alasdair Lane

August 07, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Scotland, Glasgow

In Scotland, the Navigators program performs violence interruption work in seven hospitals, at the bedside of victims of violence, with counseling and connections to social services to nudge people into safer lifestyles. Because Navigators act independently of the police and other authority figures, and because their service follows clients into the community, they are able to win the cooperation of 65-90% of those they approach. A survey of 100 clients showed 23% fewer emergency room visits in the year after cooperating with the program. Navigators started after violence in Scotland raged in 2005.

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