Colorado presenters outline rural suicide-prevention programs, caution federal funding uncertain

Katherine Harvey, rural strategies specialist for the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention, told a statewide workgroup that the state is expanding local suicide-prevention efforts targeted to rural and agricultural communities and is focusing on community connection, firearms safety outreach and training for clinical and nonclinical responders.

The announcement matters because Colorado ranks among the 10 states with the highest suicide rates, data presented by Harvey showed, and the state has programs (including the Colorado National Collaborative and local ‘‘Coffee Break’’ peer-support groups) intended to reach farmworkers, veterans and other rural residents who face high isolation and barriers to care.

Harvey said the Office funds coalitions and local organizations in all 64 Colorado counties and has just added 12 counties in the Eastern Plains to receive implementation funding. She described a six-pillar model used locally —…