Month: November 2022

Lost&Found’s Kennedy leads training for WAVI

On Oct, 27, Senior Prevention Specialist Corey Kennedy led a communications training with 30 staff members of Working Against Violence Inc. in Rapid City. Topics included boundaries, active listening, and crucial conversations.

For more information on Lost&Found’s training opportunities, go here.

Corey Kennedy led a communications training with Working Against Violence Inc in Rapid City.

 

Corey Kennedy led a communications training with Working Against Violence Inc in Rapid City.

Lost&Found’s student programs in the 2022 fall semester, by the numbers

Lost&Found’s programs are reaching more students in more places!The numbers below show where Lost&Found is just after the midpoint of the fall semester.

Learn more about Lost&Found’s student programs here.

 

19   Students in Advocates program (in three cohorts)

37   Mentees in Peer2Peer program

38  Mentors in Peer2Peer program

Lost&Found Chapters (up and running at South Dakota State University, University of South Dakota, Augustana University, and Dakota Wesleyan University with new chapters  launching soon at Lake Area Technical Colllege, Black Hills State University, and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)

Post-Secondary Institutions with Peer2Peer Programs (Currently at South Dakota State University, University of South Dakota, Black Hills State University, and Western Dakota Tech with three more starting in JanuaryNorthern State University, S.D. School of MInes & Technology, and Augustana University)

Students need more mental health options, student reps tell SD Board of Regents

Students need more mental health options, student reps tell SD Board of Regents – shows two students Katherine Conzent and Caleb Wieland

Two student representatives voiced their support for increased mental health options for students at the South Dakota Board of Regents meeting in October.

Katie Conzet, executive director of the Student Federation, and Caleb Weiland, president of the Student Federation, spoke as representatives of 30,000 students in South Dakota’s regental system of post-secondary institutions.

Weiland began with statistics explaining why expanding mental health options is important.

“Sadly, in South Dakota between the ages of 20 and 29, suicide is the leading cause of death. Furthermore, South Dakota just broke their own record for suicides per year. The sad truth is, we can and should do more,” Weiland said. “With the understanding that we will never be able to completely solve this issue in its entirety, we can attempt to better address this issue.”

Conzet and Weiland asked regents to support expanding tele mental health options as recommended in Senate Bill 55 Task Force Recommendation Number 29. They also named other services that would be helpful for students, such as QPR training, peer-to-peer mentoring, group therapy, coping skills training, mental health workshops, and app-based services.

“The need for mental health services is not diminishing anytime soon,” Conzet said. “We need to have the systems and programs in place to equip today’s students with the proper mental health education and resources to identify mental health in themselves and others for the betterment of tomorrow. It’s our responsibility to ensure regental mental health infrastructure can adapt to today’s needs. We look forward to more conversations between the board and the Federation on this very important topic.”

Listen to the report (excerpted from the full recording of the meeting) or read the transcript below.

 

 

 

Transcript: Student Federation representatives speak to South Dakota Board of Regents on expanding mental health options

 

Pam Roberts  00:00

We will move on to report of the Student Federation. Katie, and I think Caleb’s coming up too. There we go.

 

Katie Conzet  00:13

Good morning, Madam President and members of the Board of Regents. My name is Katie Conzet, and I am the Executive Director of the Student Federation.

 

Caleb Weiland  00:20

My name is Caleb Weiland. I’m president of the Student Federation. Before we get into a report today, I just want to touch on two things. First, I want to thank almost Dr. Heather Forney for her work … and just advocating on behalf of students to just find a solution to better that situation we have on campuses. And then second, before we dive into our strategic plan update, I want to thank two individuals for pushing me to believe that the strategic plan can actually do something. I’m a changed man from the June meeting. And so I hope you see that today in the report.

 

Katie Conzet  00:51

All right. So in June, the Federation acted to form a mental health strategic plan, as you might remember. Today, we are here to update the board on our findings and start the constructive conversation. However, before we get into our findings, we want to recognize the work that our mental health professionals and advocates such as the Board of Regents has done and will continue to do to better address these issues.

 

Caleb Weiland  01:14

To provide a background of information and demonstrate the immense need of why the Federation feel so passionate about calling for increased attention to mental health services on and off all regional campuses, here are a few statistics that represent our motivation. After the COVID 19 pandemic, South Dakota has the eighth highest suicide rate in the nation. Sadly, in South Dakota between the ages of 20 and 29, suicide is the leading cause of death. Furthermore, South Dakota just broke their own record for suicides per year. The sad truth is, we can and should do more. With the understanding that we will never be able to completely solve this issue in its entirety, we can attempt to better address this issue. We, as the elected representatives of over 30,000 students, believe in giving an increased attention and action toward a unified and regental front to combat mental health crisis, the mental health crisis, we stand an affirmation of the Senate Bill 55 Task Force Recommendation Number 29, titled Expand Student Mental Health Options, specifically through telehealth.

 

Katie Conzet  02:18

The Federation is focused on ensuring students such as those at Black Hill State University-Rapid City and USD Sioux Falls locations and all of our online students are not left out of this discussion. Which is why the investment in tele mental health resources would reach a portion of our peers who already have a lower amount of access to on-campus support systems.

 

Caleb Weiland  02:38

While our counseling centers find longer wait times for students seeking appointments, and while every campus has an on-call crisis counselor, there are rarely alternative mental health resources for more intermediate-needs students. Currently, from a regental standpoint, the student to counselor ratio, the counselor-to-student ratio is one to 999. The American Counseling Association recommends a counselor-to-student ratio of one to 250. It is not fiscally sustainable nor the most effective approach and use of resources just keep hiring more counselors.

 

Katie Conzet  03:11

Now we understand that mental health is not a one-size-fits-all problem. It has no silver bullet. An effective approach would be looking at into the expansion and creation of a low-cost and high-impact program. Expanding programs such as QPR training–Question, Persuade and Refer–that equips those trained in addressing signs of suicide crisis and teaches them how to respond. Another program worth looking at is peer-to-peer mentoring. This program pairs an upperclassman with a first-year student who is interested in or the needs of an individual to help them get through their first year of college. Group therapy is an existing program on some campuses that is also worth expanding, as research points to college students suffering largely from stress and time management problems during their first years.

 

Caleb Weiland  03:55

A few programs worth bringing into the regental system include coping skills training. Coping skills training is based upon giving students the ability to learn how to adapt to situations, take feedback in a non-defensive manner, and better equip our students with resilience training. Additionally, mental health workshops to address time management, stress and depression would be another cost-effective approach at educating students on how to seek help and address mental health issues before they start. Finally, one regental campus has an app that gives intermediate students access to educational modules on a variety of mental health issues. Creating app services regental wide offer students who for one reason or another will not seek counseling but potentially need some potentially need some guidance. By expanding existing and investing in new programs, we can educate campus communities about mental health and push for the destigmatization of seeking mental health resources on and off college campuses.

 

Katie Conzet  04:50

The need for mental health services is not diminishing anytime soon. New reports show that regental growth is vast, and we the Federation are ecstatic to hear these numbers. However, while this growth is good, we need to have the systems and programs in place to equip today’s students with the proper mental health education and resources to identify mental health in themselves and others for the betterment of tomorrow. It’s our responsibility to ensure regental mental health infrastructure can adapt to today’s needs. We look forward to more conversations between the board and the Federation on this very important topic. And we thank you all for your time.

 

Pam Roberts 05:27

Thank you very much. Are there any questions from the regents on the report? Yes, Regent Brock–Regent Brock Brown?

 

Brock Brown  05:35

Either way. Well, thank you so much for making the report. I think that through our conversations, it’s so important that when you said in June that we are going to make this report, and we’re gonna have this task force, now you’ve followed through. And during my time on the board, students have brought two issues to the board. They’ve been successful on one of them. So I hope this is another one, and we can come together and have more conversations, like you said, but what do you think the next steps are, from your perspective from us, with staff and on each individual campus?

 

Katie Conzet  06:02

Well, the first step, which is kind of probably on everyone’s mind, is funding. So whatever we decide to establish as a federation, whatever the next course of action is, it’s where are we going to get the money for that? So we’ve been working with Dr. Miner, looking at some potential outcomes for that. But otherwise, I mean, we’re here with our issue to hopefully work with you guys in collaboration to come to a conclusion based on that.

 

Pam Roberts  06:30

Further questions, comments? Yes, Regent Rave?

 

Tim Rave  06:32

I don’t know that I have a question per se, but may spur some conversation. So I just came back from a meeting in Washington DC with a group of my peers. And obviously, mental health crisis is, you know, not a South Dakota problem. It’s a–it’s a nation problem that’s not only isolated to college campuses. And so, I think I just bring this up for discussion, because I know there’s a lot of tools in that toolbox. And you guys did a fantastic job of laying out, you know, things that I hadn’t even thought of the peer-to-peer counseling and some of these other topics. One thing we didn’t talk about, unless I missed it, was looking at some telehealth options, and then, you know, trying to differentiate between a mental health crisis. And I think Caleb actually talked a little bit about, you know, maybe just someone needs somebody to talk to, and that, you know, feels a little more peer-to-peer to me, but I think, I think as this evolves, and it’s not a problem we’re gonna solve today, if we did, we’d be all rich and retired, because we’d have it figured out, and we’re not going to do that. But I think I do appreciate the conversation. I do appreciate the fact that I think there are some steps we can start taking and start looking at some of these avenues. And so there are some opportunities, I think, to make some some progress.

 

Pam Roberts  07:37

Thank you. Anybody else? Thank you is really a good presentation, a well thought out and well prepared. So thank you very much. We appreciate it.

 

Katie Conzet  07:47

Thank you all.

Great Minds with Lost&Found podcast: Suicide Prevention and Gun Safety with Veterans Affairs and Moms Demand Action

Great Minds with Lost&Found podcast: Suicide Prevention and Gun Safety with Veterans Affairs and Moms Demand Action

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
 

Using the CDC’s seven strategies for preventing suicide to guide our work, we spoke with Patty Mayrose (a veteran, a VA nurse, and Moms Demand Action volunteer) and Emily Thomas (the State Chapter Lead for the South Dakota Chapter of Moms Demand Action) about how they create protective environments for those at risk of suicide and improve the mental health landscape in Sioux Falls and South Dakota. Learn more about the Be SMART program, designed to help adults and parents normalize conversations about gun safety and take responsible actions that can prevent child gun deaths and injuries. If you are a veteran or know a veteran (or anyone else) struggling with mental health challenges or facing suicidal thoughts, call 988, then press 1 to be connected to the Veterans Crisis Line.

 

To learn more about the work that Lost&Found is doing to prevent suicide among youth and young adults, go to resilienttoday.org.  Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube (@resilienttoday).

 

Listen on Spotify or find other listening options on Anchor.

You can also watch this episode on YouTube.

Great Minds with Lost&Found podcast: Improving Access to Suicide Care

Great Minds with Lost&Found podcast: Improving Access to Suicide Care

Content Warning: Great Minds with Lost&Found episodes contain mature themes, including mental health, suicide, addiction, and others that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
In this episode, we chat with Janet Kittams, CEO of the Helpline Center about the programs and services that they provide, the rollout of the 988 Crisis Line, and how we can improve access of care for those at risk of suicide.
If you or someone you know is facing a mental health crisis, call 988. If you are a veteran facing a mental health crisis, call 988 and then press 1.

To learn more about the work that Lost&Found is doing to prevent suicide among youth and young adults, go to resilienttoday.org.  Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube (@resilienttoday).

Listen on Spotify or find other listening options on Anchor.

You can also watch this episode on YouTube.

Jennifer Noteboom and Brad Hearst are recipients of Lost&Found’s 2022 awards

Brad Hearst recipient of Lost&Found's 2022 awards

A little over two years ago, Lost&Found presented its first Spirit of Resilience Award, an honor that was created to recognize someone who had shown a commitment to improving resilience in our community. This year, Lost&Found established another award, called the DJ Smith-Crawley Doing More to Prevent Suicide Award to honor someone who, like Lost&Found co-founder Smith-Crawley, works to prevent suicide among college students.

For 2022, Brad Hearst of Sioux Falls, S.D., received the Spirit of Resilience Award, and Jennifer Noteboom of Pickstown, S.D., was given the DJ Smith-Crawley Doing More to Prevent Suicide Award.

The awards were presented at the Make Your Mark event in September. Here is the what Lost&Found’s CEO Erik Muckey said at the event:

 

DJ Smith-Crawley “Doing More to Prevent Suicide” Award – Jennifer Noteboom, Honoree

As many of you know, this year Lost&Found tragically lost one of its founding members. DJ Smith, a former student at USD and a dear friend of mine, lost his life to brain cancer earlier this year. He was incredibly important in helping to create a vision for Lost&Found 12 years ago and facilitate that vision for several years. He is missed dearly, and we at Lost&Found, along with DJ’s family, have chosen to establish an annual award in his honor.

The DJ Crawley Smith Doing More to Prevent Suicide Award is an honor that will be given to a campus partner and volunteer who has gone above and beyond to help to keep students safe and to promote Lost&Found’s vision of “no more suicide.”

Jennifer Noteboom

The recipient of the award this year is Jennifer Noteboom, a former campus counselor at Dakota Wesleyan University. Jennifer, who hails from Pickstown, SD, tragically lost her own son to suicide eight years ago while he was a student at South Dakota State University. His tragic death led Jennifer and her family to look at how they could pay support forward to others so they didn’t experience the same tragedy—and found Lost&Found in the process. From the proceeds of Connor’s memorial fund, Jennifer and her family supported the launch of the South Dakota State University Lost&Found chapter. Since that time, Jennifer has been steadfast in her support of Lost&Found. Through her work as a DWU campus counselor, Jennifer helped Lost and Found build a thriving chapter at Dakota Wesleyan University that has reached hundreds of students over the years. Her kindness and tenacity has helped to keep countless students safe. She’s unable to join us this evening but she did send a note that I will read now:

I recently took the Myers Briggs personality test for the first time in 25 years and discovered I had become an INFJ, an advocate. When I first saw what I’d been classified as I thought, “No way- that can’t be right. Advocates do big things that affect large numbers of people, like, oh, I don’t know, starting a nonprofit that has impacted thousands of young adults. The more I sat with it, though, the more I came to realize that doing small things for a long time can also make a difference. Advocates with a capital A, I am in awe of you and your passion and energy will change the world. If you’re a little a advocate like me, remember that you, too, are making a difference, one caring action at a time.  I’m disappointed that I never got the chance to meet DJ- I have the feeling that I would’ve really liked him. I have had the chance to see how much he meant to those of you who knew him and how much of an impact his little project has had on the world. I am incredibly honored to have been chosen as the first recipient of the DJ Smith Crawley Doing More to Prevent Suicide award. I will strive, in my little way, to live up to DJ’s legacy.

 

3rd Annual Spirit of Resilience Award – Brad Hearst, Honoree

I’m extremely honored tonight to present the 2022 Spirit of Resilience Award to Brad Hearst. I consider Brad a friend and a mentor, and I couldn’t be more pleased to present him with his award. After Brad lost his brother to suicide several years ago, he started an organization to help people who were going through a similar loss. Brad founded Survivors Joining 4 Hope with the goal of alleviating the stress finances can have on families that are going through the most difficult time in their lives. Instead of worrying about funeral costs, families could spend time grieving.Over the years, Brad has created impenetrable ties with dozens of families who have lost loved ones. He has spent thousands of hours meeting with families, counseling them, and supporting them through their grief. He remains in contact with many of these families to this day. This impact on our community is immeasurable, and we’re so lucky to have his generous spirit working on this important issue. Brad, thank you for everything you’ve done for me and for our community. Please join me in honoring Brad Hearst as our 2022 Spirit of Resilience award winner.

 

Brad shared this message on Facebook following the event:

On Friday I had the privilege of being presented with the Spirit of Resilience Award by Lost&Found. I am usually an individual who enjoys public speaking but in the moment I got choked up as my good friend Erik presented me the award. It is truly an honor to be recognized for my contributions to community resilience. After my brothers passing I felt confused and lost. Helping individuals through their own grief has helped me address my own grief with his passing. So I really need to thank all the families that have trusted in myself, Survivors Joining For Hope, our board and our volunteers! Please spread the word that organizations like L&F are here to make a difference in the mental health space and support both suicide prevention and postvention care. If you have time please check out their website at resilienttoday.org and share their info with a friend! #Honored #ThankYou #ResilientToday