A primary goal of the Tulare County Suicide Prevention Task Force (SPTF) is to ensure access to evidence-based training and professional practices. Training options listed below are available to anyone in our community. In addition to the options listed below, the SPTF identifies special training sessions for specific groups and needs, as funding permits.
The SPTF is partnered with Tulare County Office of Education (TCOE) to host the following trainings:
SafeTalk, ASIST, and Youth Mental Health First Aid
Find the training calendar at: tcoe.org/specialeducation/calendar
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a groundbreaking 8-hour public education program that helps the public identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders.
Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is an 8-hour public education program that introduces participants—parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring individuals—to the techniques of helping an adolescent (age 12–18) who is experiencing a mental health or addiction challenge or who is in crisis.
safeTalk is a half day training that teaches participants to recognize signs of suicide risk, how to engage with persons with thoughts of suicide, and how to connect them to resources.
This training provides a basic level of education and introduction to suicide prevention. It explores the topics of suicide, suicide risk, our understanding of this topic, and the role of media (films, music, news) in shaping our understanding of the issues. Information is focused on the activities, programs, and initiatives of the Tulare County Suicide Prevention Task Force, up-to-date information on suicides, and an overview of broadly available resources to turn to for help, as well as plenty of opportunity for questions and interaction.
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is an internationally recognized intensive training regarding signs & symptoms, intervention strategies, discussion of the suicide intervention model, and intervention practice via scenarios, and equips people to respond knowledgeably and competently to persons at risk of suicide. Participants learn and practice skills in identifying and responding to people at immediate risk of suicide. Just as CPR skills make physical first aid possible, training in suicide intervention develops the skills used in suicide first aid.
The sessions listed below have been offered by the SPTF at some point but are not currently scheduled for future sessions. This listing is mainly for archival purposes. We typically will offer one or more specialty training sessions each year. The training sessions below are examples of specialty training we have offered in the past.
AAS/AFSP Suicide Bereavement Clinician Training Program
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
eSuicideTALK Online Training
Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)
Recognizing and Responding to Suicide Risk (RRSR)
Recognizing and Responding to Suicide Risk - Primary Care (RRSR-PC)
Sudden and Traumatic Loss