Mentis’ Jeni Olsen, Prevention Director, Begins Tenure as Co-Chair of Suicide Prevention Council

Jeni Olsen, Prevention Director at Mentis, will become the co-chair of the Napa County Suicide Prevention Council beginning in September, alongside Meshanette Johnson-Sims, Napa County’s Assistant Mental Health Director. Napa’s Suicide Prevention Council was founded in 2017 with the goal of ending suicide in Napa County.

The Suicide Prevention Council supports existing local suicide prevention and stigma reduction efforts as it works to identify and fill the gaps in suicide prevention approaches across the county. A community partnership that includes Napa County Health and Human Services, Napa County Sheriff’s Office, Napa County Probation, Mentis, Aldea, Napa Valley Unified School District, Napa Valley College, OLE Health, Providence Queen of the Valley Hospital and Kaiser Permanente, the Council follows the California’s Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan, “Striving for Zero” suicides in Napa County.

Suicide is among the most preventable kinds of deaths, and the council believes improving access to mental health resources, equipping our community with suicide prevention trainings, and county-wide stigma reduction will prevent lives being lost to suicide.

As co-chair of the Suicide Prevention Council, Olsen plans to create an outreach and education plan for Napa County and to work with community partners to continue training members of our community in QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), an evidence-based suicide prevention model. Last fiscal year, the Mentis prevention team trained over 420 people in QPR suicide prevention. To learn more about QPR, visit qprinstitute.org.

The Napa County Suicide Prevention Council is actively recruiting new members. The Suicide Prevention Council is a local coalition of people and organizations who are dedicated to reducing stigma around mental health issues and suicide, identifying, and advocating for resources, and promoting a safe, connected, resilient and inclusive community to reduce the risk of suicide. If you’d like to join the Suicide Prevention Council and/or learn more about scheduling a QPR training, please email Ruben Sanchez at [email protected].

For more information or to donate to Mentis, please visit www.mentisnapa.org

About Mentis:

We at Mentis believe each of us has the capacity to improve our mental health. But not all of us have the tools and resources to do so. Every day, our staff and clinicians educate, support and inspire people to take charge of their mental well-being. With programs ranging from prevention to treatment, we’re here to make sure our community’s mental wellness flourishes. Because when we share our expertise on how to cope with life’s ups and downs, we empower our neighbors to live the lives they want to live.

Contact: Ashley Awe, Communications Specialist, [email protected], 707.346.4228 x 194. Additional assets available.