Learning Opportunities & Resources

This training focuses on how to identify the warning signs and risk factors fo problematic substance use, what resources are available to support those struggling with substance use, and when to refer to professional services. 

This training is intended for disaster responders, public health staff, and all professionals who engage with communities before, during, and following a disaster.

September 7th 9-10am 

Register Here ID # 1121987

NIMH offers brochures and fact sheets on mental health disorders and related topics for patients and their families, health professionals, and the public. Printed materials can be ordered free of charge. 

Brochures and fact sheets are also offered in digital formats and are available in English and Spanish.

Self- Care Toolkit for the Workplace

Right Direction is a high- impact, turnkey initiative that raises awareness about depression and other mental health conditions, and encourages help-seeking when it's needed. By providing free resources, tools, and expert guidance on workplace mental health, Right Direction helps organizations create a healthier and more engaged workforce.

MDVA is partnering with the VA health care system to distribute free gun locks. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a locked gun can mean the difference between a tragic outcome and a life saved for someone in crisis. 

Though Veterans are well-versed in firearm safety, all gun owners should understand that during emotional or stressful times, delaying access to a gun could mean the difference between life and death. Gun locks can prevent someone in crisis from tragically taking their own life. Learn more at Suicide Prevention Firearm Safety Matters (PDF).

In an effort to reduce these preventable tragedies, MDVA is offering free gun locks. To request a gun lock, please email  SuicidePrevention.MDVA@state.mn.us 

with your name and address. This information will not be shared; requests are confidential. 

Psychological First Aid

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has resources for responders on Psychological First Aid (PFA). PFA is an early intervention to support children, adolescents, adults, and families impacted by these types of events. The PFA Wallet Card (En Español) provides a quick reminder of the core actions. The PFA online training course is also available on the NCTSN Learning Center. PFA handouts include:

• Parent Tips for Helping Infants and Toddlers (En Español)

• Parent Tips for Helping Preschoolers (En Español)

• Parent Tips for Helping School-Age Children (En Español)

• Parent Tips for Helping Adolescents (En Español)

• Tips for Adults (En Español)

There are many biological and sociological gender differences between men and women, but some of the most primary distinctions include men and mental health, which includes the prevalence, diagnosis, escalation and treatment of mental illnesses. Due to several millennia of male socialization and certain biological predispositions, many men around the world suffer from men’s mental health crisis in silence, leading to a host of other potential problems. 

There’s a tragic intersection of low rates of diagnosed depression and high rates of suicide and substance abuse among the U.S. male population. Men account for 75 percent of all suicide victims in the U.S., with one man taking his own life every 20 minutes. Around the world, men are 3 – 7.5 times more likely than women to take their own lives.

Click the link on the title to read the blog and learn how to help break the stigma and encourage conversation around Men's mental health.

Strategies for improving mental health and preventing suicide among men. This website includes resources to help identify depression in men, resources and materials to encourage self-care, personal stories and articles, and getting connected to a therapist. The site also offers a free self guided course for Managing Anger and Irritability, Rewiring Negative Thoughts, and Mindfulness. 

The MDH Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) is introducing a 6-part series to share the U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being. This framework lays the foundation for workplaces to examine and take action to change culture within their organizations.

Join MDH for one hour every two weeks to learn more about the framework. 

Dates: The first webinar will be held on May 29. Future webinars will be on June 12, June 26, July 10, July 24, and Aug. 7.

Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Register Here

Reducing access to lethal means, such as firearms and medication, can determine whether a person at risk for suicide lives or dies. This course focuses on how to reduce access to the methods people use to kill themselves. It covers how to: (1) identify people who could benefit from lethal means counseling, (2) ask about their access to lethal methods, and (3) work with them—and their families—to reduce access.



This course is primarily designed for health professionals such as social service professionals and health care providers. Non-professionals who have completed a suicide prevention gatekeeper training (such as QPR or safeTALK) are welcome to attend. You will be expected to role play coaching others on Reducing Access to Lethal Means.

Online Class: Thursday, September 5, 2024: 12:00 pm -3:30 pm

Zoom Registration Link

All children thrive in educational environments that value who they are and nurture their unique talents and perspectives. Many factors affect the school environment, including disciplinary practices.

ChangeLab Solutions will discuss how school discipline policies are connected to children’s health and what schools can do to improve school performance; support more effective classroom management; and promote greater physical, mental, social, and emotional health and well-being for students.

This webinar is the final episode in the series Meeting the Challenge: Evidence-Based Policies to Support Children’s Mental Health & Well-Being, which explores equitable policy options to promote children’s mental health.

The Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention gives educators and school administrators a comprehensive way to implement suicide prevention policies in their local community.

In collaboration with the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and The Trevor Project, the program is research-based and easily adaptable for middle and high schools.

There are specific, actionable steps to support school personnel; sample language for student handbooks; suggestions for involving parents and guardians in suicide prevention; and guidance for addressing in-school suicide attempts.

Our mission is to make sure no young person feels alone in their depression. We are dedicated to creating a community of empathy and education. We create upper elementary, middle school, and high school mental health, depression, and suicide awareness programs so educators, families, and teens can create safe spaces to learn about mental health, letting students know they are never alone, and there is somewhere to turn.

 We work upstream, putting easy-to-use school mental health programs in place to end the youth mental health crisis at the start. Our resources and programs include:

• Classroom Education for Students: Educational lessons about mental health, depression, and suicide.

• Empowerment Clubs for Students: Good mental health clubs to empower young people to change the world.

• Family and Community Engagement for Parents: Programs and resources for families to be partners in mental health.

• Support and Training for School Staff: Staff training, well-being activities, and more for a positive climate.

Peacemaker Resources is a nonprofit organization based in Bemidji, MN.  For the last 20 years, they have supported building peace skills throughout Minnesota and beyond. Their intention is to offer universal prevention tools to groups leading to systemic changes that benefit individuals and communities. 

They offer resources and programming for youth and adults related to three focused areas:

• Social and Emotional Learning & Mindfulness

• Cultural Responsiveness

• Trauma-sensitive Practices

After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools assists schools in implementing a coordinated response to the suicide death of a student. Originally developed in 2011, the second edition includes new information and tools that middle and high schools can use to help the school community cope and reduce suicide risk. 

The toolkit was developed in collaboration with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and in consultation with national experts, including school-based administrators and staff, clinicians, researchers, and crisis response professionals. It is designed primarily for administrators and staff but can also be useful for parents and communities. 

Kognito provides practice-based digital learning for educators and students to improve mental health and well-being in schools. Kognito trainings use role-play simulations to teach learners how to navigate real-life situations, leading to positive outcomes in and out of the classroom. Kognito helps school staff and students build critical life skills to lead real-life conversations on mental health, well-being, and suicide prevention.

The Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Education, and Kognito have partnered to offer these trainings free to all Minnesota school staff and students in grades 6-12.

The Office of Population Affairs (OPA) has released Take Action for Adolescents – A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being. This call to action acknowledges the diverse experiences of young people ages 10-24 and shares a vision of how communities can come together to help adolescents thrive. It synthesizes research and experiences of young people, youth-serving professionals, parents, and policy makers, and aims to foster collaboration among all who support adolescents.

Take Action for Adolescents is a national call to action for adults, including policy makers, health care and human service providers and organizations, youth-serving professionals and organizations, researchers, parents, legal representatives, and caregivers to work collaboratively for change that benefits young people. It outlines initial action steps that can be customized to help achieve each of the goals. The call to action and accompanying Take Action Toolkit include examples of federal programs and resources that support adolescent health and well-being.

This project aims to give providers and other adults the tools to talk to young people directly. 

Early identification and intervention of youth substance use decreases the likelihood of developing a substance use disorder in the future and experiencing consequences related to the use of alcohol and other drugs. Knowing what information young people want and need can open doors to productive conversations.

Knowing how to offer that information allows providers to make the best use of that opening. The resources within this toolkit are to support youth-serving providers in communicating with youth through meaningful conversation.

Message Guide: The purpose of this guide is to empower you with not only what to say in youth substance use prevention conversations, but how to say it.

Communication Pathway Guide: The purpose of this worksheet is to guide you through a few simple communication steps that can be tailored to any circumstance.

Relationships where addiction and high-risk behaviors are present can feel like navigating a minefield. When communication breaks down, harsh words are exchanged, and you feel like you are on the verge of losing your mind, you think there has to be a better way (and there is).

Small changes CAN produce big results for you and your loved one(s) struggling with these tough situations. This workshop will help you understand challenging behaviors, strategies for collaboration, new communication skills, and self-compassion

In this interactive, four-part series workshop informed by the CRAFT approach, we'll help you understand what these changes look like and work with you to develop and improve your communication and collaboration skills. You'll learn how to activate recovery in your family and communities and start changing the dynamics in your relationships.

Minnesota has the chance to use settlement funds to save lives and mitigate lifelong harms from drug misuse. To do this, settlement funds should be spent on effective interventions that are based on evidence. Settlement funds present a critical opportunity to work in synergy with other available resources. Maximizing the impact of the settlement funds will require coordination and thoughtful utilization. MDH's new LPH settlement guide webpage serves as a resource for local public health as they convene stakeholders around settlement fund decisions and implement strategies to abate the harms of the overdose epidemic. Visit the link above to explore this comprehensive guide.

On-Demand Webinar

Growing up with a parent who is in active addiction is a very alienating experience for children who—without context to understand what’s going on—tend to blame themselves for the turmoil and difficulties. And beyond the daily worries and stress, children who are exposed to family addiction are at far greater risk of someday developing substance use and mental health problems themselves.

Join Helene Photias, executive director of the Hazelden Betty Ford Children’s Program, to view addiction through the eyes of a child and explore the most-effective education and prevention approaches for kids and their families. We will take a closer look at addiction as a multi-generational disease, with a special focus on strategies that support the social-emotional stability of children.

In order to promote health equity, it's essential to confront the underlying drivers of inequity and health disparities embedded within our systems. Five prominent public health researchers and advocates share their insights on how systemic and structural racism perpetuates health inequities. Hear their compelling perspectives and insight, and be part of the conversation for positive change.  

The live conversation, which aired on November 1, 2023, explored how community development corporations (CDCs) can utilize data and research techniques to produce community-driven and community-defined evidence. Colleen Flynn, Co-Executive Director at BHPN spoke with BIPOC-led CDCs who are creating and using community-driven data collection and evaluation strategies to help solve for the root causes of racial inequality in their communities. We also heard from Verge Impact Partners – a public health equity consulting firm – who shared strategies to help CDCs develop data collection and evaluation goals so that it aligns with the values and visions of the communities they serve.