Suicide prevention is always a challenge for communities. But the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the stress that often accompanies the holiday season, are exacerbating the threat for many Californians as 2020 draws to a close.

Last spring, MHSOAC Research Supervisor Ashley Mills appeared on KVIE, Sacramento’s public television station, as part of a program called “Suicide Awareness During COVID-19.” The segment will air again on KVIE this Friday (11/27) at 7:30 p.m., and the timing couldn’t be better.

The report, Every Young Heart and Mind: Schools as Centers of Wellness, is the product of more than 20 community meetings, many of them within the communities struggling to overcome intergenerational poverty, disproportionately poor health outcomes and systemic racism.

To many among us, suicide seems like the shocking and inexplicable end we never saw coming for a family member, colleague, or friend. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

In November of 2019, the Commission released a strategic plan to reduce suicide and suicidal behavior in the Golden State. Now it’s time to put that plan into action.

The California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission has produced a strategic plan to reduce suicide and suicidal behavior. Striving for Zero is based on the best available research and evidence, and earlier this month, the Commission approved funding for five initiatives to begin implementing the plan.