Suicide Prevention Coalition
Announcement of UTA’s Partnership


UTA is proud to announce our recent partnership with the Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition. We are first and foremost a transit provider, and we understand that this role is about more than just getting people from place to place. We also have the social responsibility to the community that we serve. We care about you, and we want our work to reflect that. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and we will be honoring this month with a blog series dedicated to the suicide prevention efforts that are underway across our state.

Introduction to Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition

The Utah Suicide Coalition is a public-private partnership of suicide survivors, community members, service providers, state and local government officials, and researchers, among others. All members are dedicated to the goal of advancing suicide prevention efforts in Utah.

UTA is now officially represented as a part of this multi-layered partnership, and we are intent on doing our part to advocate for suicide prevention in the communities that we serve.

The Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition is a partnership of community members, suicide survivors, service providers, researchers, and others dedicated to saving lives and advancing suicide prevention efforts in Utah. The Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition and LiveOn Campaign steering committee are made up of members from:

  • Governor’s Suicide Prevention Task Force
  • Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition & Executive Committee
  • Legislators, policymakers, and budget leaders
  • Faith groups
  • Healthcare systems
  • Utah government agencies
  • Gun owners and advocates
  • Academic institutions
  • Nonprofit Organizations
  • Businesses
  • Local prevention coalitions
  • Family settings (libraries, pediatricians’ offices, restaurants, schools, etc.)

The Coalition was formed after HB 370 required the creation of a statewide suicide prevention coalition and a state plan to reduce suicides in Utah. These actions were taken to curb a troubling trend.

Utah adults ages 25-64 have the highest rate of suicide per 100,000 population in the nation. Youth suicide mirrors these statistics, with data that indicates that the rates have been consistently higher than the national rate for more than a decade. On average, two Utahns die as a result of suicide every day and twelve Utahns are treated for suicide attempts every day.

These rates call for immediate action, which the Coalition provides. All work done by the Coalition is centered around the concrete goal of ultimately eliminating suicide in the state of Utah.

Goals:
The Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition created a plan, the Utah Suicide Prevention Plan, to guide the work that they do. The goals in this plan include reducing suicide rates in Utah by 10% by 2021. The ultimate goal detailed in the plan is to reach zero suicides in our state.

This plan is available online and includes information about suicide data in Utah, how to recognize warning signs, and what resources are being used to implement strategies to prevent suicides across Utah.

Community Work

The Coalition works directly with the community through the efforts of their partners across the state. They have a Crisis Lifeline set up that anyone can call that is having thoughts of suicide or knows somebody who is suffering this crisis. This number will allow you to speak to a licensed clinician in an anonymous, free, and local phone call.

There are resources provided through the Coalition that are meant to help someone both before and after a suicide event, in order to help individuals either prevent it from happening or heal from the effects. Local crisis support resources include help for veterans and members of the LGBTQ+ community. There are also apps you can download, safety plans you can follow, and techniques you can employ to engage in the work of suicide prevention in your life or the life of someone you love.

You can find Coalition partners doing their work all over the state. In upcoming posts in this series, we will be highlighting work that both national and local partners are doing specifically, as well as resources for marginalized communities that exist within this network. The specified work that they do will be covered, all with the goal of helping you find the resources that you need.

For more information UTA’s suicide prevention efforts, visit rideuta.com/prevention

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