Skip to main content
Behavioral Health Services
Behavioral Health Services

About the Suicide Prevention Program

The Suicide Prevention Program has the mission of reducing and preventing suicides in the County of Santa Clara by bringing community awareness to the issue and engaging in community prevention efforts.

By clicking on the “Watch External Video” button, you will leave this website, enter a non-County of Santa Clara website, and be subject to the destination website’s privacy policy. Please see our Links Policy for more information.

Our work includes the following:

  • Operating crisis intervention services, such as the Suicide and Crisis Hotline;  
  • Running public education and outreach campaigns to encourage people to seek help when they need it;
  • Promoting safe and effective messaging and reporting in the media;
  • Training community members to identify and support others who are in crisis;  
  • Working with County schools to strengthen suicide crisis response and prevention;
  • Implementing policies that are supportive of suicide prevention; and
  • Collecting data and evaluating activities to monitor and strengthen program efforts.​​
See the plan that helps guide our work to prevent suicides in the county: Santa Clara County Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan
Read the new strategy addressing culture and diversity added to the Strategic Plan: Strategy Six (May 2024)

Prevention services

BHSD photo
ACCESS

Suicide prevention training

Learn more
boy struggling in school
ACCESS

Suicide prevention program in schools

Learn more
BHSD photo
VOLUNTEER

Crisis and suicide prevention lifeline

Be part of our group
GET HELP NOW

Call or Text 988

24/7 Crisis and Suicide Prevention Lifeline:

- Call or text 988

- Non-local area codes: call 800-704-0900 and press 1 to connect to local 988 counselors

Learn about 988
BHSD

Resources

Outreach materials

Discover and share resources
helping hands 2

Policy, data and evaluation

Access additional information

Public awareness

BHSD photo

Suicide and gun safety

Learn more
BHSD photo

Suicide in men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s

Learn more
asian woman

Suicide in adults 60s and older

Learn more

Recommendations for reporting on suicide

Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide were developed by leading experts in suicide prevention and in collaboration with several international suicide prevention and public health organizations, schools of journalism, media organizations and key journalists as well as Internet safety experts. The recommendations are based on more than 50 international studies on suicide contagion.

Reporting suicide

Resources

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
American Association of Suicidology (AAS)
Crisis Text Line
I'm Alive
National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention
National Strategy for Suicide Prevention
SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education)
Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
ZeroSuicide
Veteran Crisis Line
Translifeline

Suicide prevention story - video (Vietnamese)

*By clicking on the “Watch External Video” button, you will leave this website, enter a non-County of Santa Clara website, and be subject to the destination website’s privacy policy. Please see our Links Policy for more information.

Watch video