LGBTQ+ Youth/YA Suicide Awareness & Prevention for Families Learning Community

These three 90-minute sessions are part of our live learning community for Region 10 (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) offered in collaboration with Oregon Family Support Network.

ABOUT THIS EVENT

In this live, virtual and interactive learning community we will engage in a collective dialogue around best practices for increasing suicide awareness and prevention strategies for families of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. Together over three 90-minute sessions we will increase our skills, knowledge, and abilities within the following topics from the family perspective.
 

Eligibility & Expectations:

• Our target audience is behavioral health and mental health providers, parents, caregivers, and forever people raising LGBTQ+ youth in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (HHS Region 10).
• These sessions will be interactive with everyone on camera/audio--plan on engaging!
• Please plan to attend all sessions as learning builds and space is limited.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify and utilize all family life domains in suicide awareness and prevention work.
• Understand the value and need for cultural humility/responsiveness in supporting family suicide awareness and prevention.
• Increase knowledge of the 5 family protective factors and how each are used in suicide prevention.
• Develop engagement strategies with families and youth who have varying communications styles and needs.

Learning Community Sessions:

1. LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide Awareness for Families: Beyond the Basics | Wednesday, July 27, 10:30am-12:00pm Pacific
2. LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide Prevention for Families: Resources for Resilience | Wednesday, August 3, 10:30am-12:00pm Pacific
3. Cultural Humility in Family Suicide Awareness and Prevention Work: Shifting the System | Wednesday, August 10, 10:30am-12:00pm Pacific

Resources:

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Crisis Text Line
• LGBTQIA+ Behavioral Health Resources curated by the Northwest MHTTC
• Awareness and Information Resources on mental health, curated by the Oregon Family Support Network 
• Oregon LGBTQ Youth & Family Resources 
• Odyssey Youth Movement
• Fifteen Apps Parents Should Know About
• The 10 Life Domains
• Providing Affirming Care to the LGBTQ+ Community
• The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health
• Resources on stigma from the PTTC Network
• Q-Chat A Community for LGBTQ+ Teens
• LGBTQ2S Youth Suicide in Canada infographic
• The Wheel of Power & Privilege
• Gender Odyssey Conference 
• Mama Dragons. Aims to support, educate and empower mothers of LGBTQ children.

Media Suggested by Learning Community Participants

• Far From the Tree documentary movie
• Disclosure documentary movie
• Transformer documentary movie
• Man Made documentary movie
• Depression: the secret we share. A TED Talk by Andrew Solomon
• Jeffrey Marsh: they are on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok
• YouTube series THESE/THEMS 
• Johann Hari's book Lost Connections

Self-Care

• Self-Care for Families and Family Members
• The Trevor Project's Self-Care Guide
• 50 Simple Self-Care Practices for a Healthy Mind, Body, and Soul

Spaces for LGBTQ+ Youth

• Lambert House in Seattle, WA
• Camp Ten Trees in Seattle, WA
• The REC Room. Free drop-in afterschool space for teens ages 12-18 in the Southern Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.
• Olalla Center's Project Bravery, Oregon. Project Bravery is a safe, welcoming resource and support for members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community in Lincoln City, OR and Toledo, OR. Bravery offers support groups, affirming mental health services, social connection, youth leadership opportunities, as well as other resources.

Suicide Awareness & Prevention

• Suicide in America: Frequently Asked Questions
• Parents’ Influence on the Health of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Teens: What Parents and Families Should Know, from the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Division of Adolescent and School Health, Centers for Disease Control
• Suicide Risk and Prevention for LGBTQ People, from the National LGBT Health Education Center
• QPR Institute. The QPR mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical and proven suicide prevention training.

Transgender-focused

• Trans Student Educational Resources
• Trans Lifeline
• Name and Gender Change ID Clinic, a monthly event from Gonzaga University School of Law's Center for Civil and Human Rights

From the Oregon Family Support Network

• Oregon Family Support Network Protective Factors Family Prevention Form

From the Family Acceptance Project

• The Family Acceptance Project: General Acceptance Poster (in English); visit the Family Acceptance Project website for posters in other languages and more information about the Family Acceptance Project
• The Family Acceptance Project: Conservative Acceptance Poster (in English); visit the Family Acceptance Project website for posters in other languages and more information about the Family Acceptance Project

Webinar recordings from the Oregon Family Support Network & Northwest MHTTC

• Navigating the Tough Stuff: LGBTQ Suicide Awareness for Families | Recorded Webinar
• Navigating the Tough Stuff: LGBTQ Suicide Prevention for Families | Recorded Webinar
• Family Peer Support trainings with Oregon Family Support Network: Family Partner Orientation and 
  Family Led Crisis Planning

FACILITATOR

Shawna Canaga

Shawna Canaga is a Family Support Specialist and the statewide Peer Delivered Services Trainer for Oregon Family Support Network (OFSN). OFSN is a family run organization that promotes mental, behavioral, and emotional wellness for families and youth through education, support, and advocacy. Shawna comes to this position with over a decade of experience supporting youth and families, and with lived experience as a mother of an adult child with complex mental health needs. Throughout both of these journeys Shawna has cultivated a passion for supporting family-driven and person-centered care within the youth and family serving systems.