As we come to the end of 2024, CSS wants to celebrate with you—our community—the collective impact we made to connect people in crisis to the right level of care. Read below some highlights from our impact this year. | |
CSS offers the only free crisis service that is available 24/7 365 days/year so Alameda county residents have ongoing, and immediate access to mental health and crisis care. You can call 988 or text SAFE to 20121 to connect with a caring counselor. | |
55,211
calls were answered on our local and 988 crisis and suicide prevention lifeline.
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4,884
text sessions were completed on our local and text line.
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462
referrals made to local crisis services including mobile crisis teams and crisis stabilization center.
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705 duplicated callers (89.5%) of medium-high risk calls were deescalated over the phone without the use of police intervention. Emergency procedures calls make up 0.42% (less than 1%) of our total call volume. This is in part possible with emergency outreach calls, counselor de-escalation, and the advent of other forms of crisis care such as mobile crisis teams. We call emergency services for medical emergencies when the person is likely to die without an in-person visit. | |
The learning objectives of our adult suicide prevention trainings and workshops are:
- Increase knowledge about suicide warning signs
- Increase knowledge of risk & protective factors
- Increase comfort in assessing for suicidal thoughts
- Increase knowledge about how to help and current best practice interventions
- Increase awareness of local and national suicide prevention resources
Schools are a key setting for youth suicide prevention, where helpful youth, teachers, school mental health staff, and other school personnel are in a position of helping. These individuals have a potential to enhance the natural safety net of our school communities by recognizing when a young person is at suicide risk and most importantly, to connect them to supportive care. Our Teens for Life Program recognizes this dynamic as a circle of support for youth, which also includes parents, caregivers, and guardians whose role is to provide a supportive environment at home.
This year we served:
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6,223
adults were provided suicide prevention training.
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12,386
youth in middle and high school classrooms throughout Alameda County.
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Your presenters, as always, are amazing. When working with the kids, they are engaging, facilitate conversation, and are able to make kids feel safe working with a sensitive topic. Thank you for everything you and your team does for this generation! - Devon Combes, Wells MS, Dublin, CA | | |
679 people registered and attended our conferences. | |
988 Conference: Current Approaches in Suicide Prevention
September 20th, 2024
The free and virtual conference was for anyone in a helper role in their professional or personal lives. Our aim was to bring together up-to-date information and lived experience to create a rich learning environment.
Full List of Workshops and Video Links
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Weaving Together: Meeting the Unmet Grief Needs of Alameda County Conference - October 25th, 2024
Our all day in-person conference was filled with healing, support, and connection as we addressed disenfranchised grief, or grief that is not acknowledged by others, adequately supported, or stigmatized. A disproportionate amount of our community has lost a loved one to homicide, suicide, or gun violence. Many of our community members have a personal experience of incarceration or have experienced the incarceration of a loved one. A significant amount of our community members have left their homes to find new lives here, often not by choice.
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35
Community workshops, health fairs, and informational sessions provided throughouth Alameda County.
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4,185
people reached through our suicide prevention awareness presence.
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By bringing our grief support groups into the community at senior centers and at the 81st Avenue Oakland Public Library, we increase access to vital community healing services and programs. | |
Crisis Support Services of Alameda County innovates programs that fill the gaps in our Alameda County crisis response. Among those programs is CSS Organizing and Responding to Crisis for Alameda youth (ORCA) Program. The program is a suicide-focused, short term, individual therapy service for youth 25 years and under who are experiencing thoughts and motivations to suicide.
Hear directly from Jennifer, one of our ORCA clinicians, who describes 2 key values that drive the therapy - meeting our youth where they are at and collaboration.
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The ORCA Program provided: | |
240
Direct Therapy Sessions
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230
Collateral and Case Management Sessions
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CSS Hospital Follow-Up Program (HFUP) offers free support for community members recently discharged from a hospitalization for suicide attempt.
Studies have shown individuals are at the highest risk for suicide attempts and deaths in the 30 days following hospital discharge or release from the emergency room after a suicide attempt. CSS partners with John George Psychiatric Hospital and Alameda County BHCS to provide post-discharge follow-up care. We now welcome referrals from other psychiatric facilities within Alameda County.
The Hospital Follow Up Program provided:
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73
Individuals Served in the Hospital Follow Up Program
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354
Telephone Counseling Sessions
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Here is Narges Zohoury Dillon and Stephanie Lewis, Director of Crisis Services System of Care with The County of Alameda Board of Supervisors who proclaimed October 10, 2024, as National Depression Screening Day to bring awareness to the importance of mental health care. Narges works closely with community based leaders to advocate for appropriate and effective crisis services. | |
Join our community of donors and help us meet our year end fundraising goal
It's not too late to support CSS with a year end gift! As donors, you strengthen our collective voice when we advocate for access to crisis services. If you haven't already, click here to donate an amount that is meaningful to you.
- $50 provides 1,000 suicide prevention crisis line cards to distribute at schools and health fairs
- $100 provides 1 therapy session for someone experiencing grief
- $200 gives real-time support to 2 teens texting our crisis line for help
- $400 trains 2 mental health professionals in suicide prevention
- $1000 funds an 8-week support group to 2 survivors of suicide attempt or loss
With heartfelt gratitude,
Narges Zohoury Dillion
Executive Director
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NOW IS THE TIME to join our community of supporters so no one in crisis is alone. | |
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