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Spilyay Tymoo
May 4
For your
Master’s of
Education
Congratulations,
Krysten (Ms. Saldaña)
on earning your Master’s
of Education Degree
from George Fox
University!
I’m sure your past,
present and future
students and staff
members at the Warm
Springs Academy
appreciate all your hard
work to be the best that
you can be for them!
Special thanks to the
Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs, and
Carroll at Higher
Education for supporting
and helping Krysten earn
her degree.
You are amazing ,
Kr ysten, and we are so proud
of you!
Love, Mom, Dad, Dylan
and Hayden and
Anthony, Keira, Ethan
and Olivia.
Coming to Indian Country:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The Northwest Portland
Area Indian Health Board
suicide prevention project—
called Tribal Health-Reach-
ing out InVolves Everyone, or
THRIVE—has partnered
with the Indian Health Ser-
vices, tribes and tribal orga-
nizations across Indian Coun-
tr y. Together, they are devel-
oping the 988 direct 3-digit
mental health emer gency re-
source.
Why do we need 988?
Suicide is the second lead-
ing cause of death for Na-
tive youth ages 10-24. Na-
tive communities experience
the highest rates of suicide
amongst all racial and ethnic
groups in the U.S., and sui-
cide rates among American
Indian and Alaska Native
communities rose by 118
percent between 1999 and
2017.
Suicide is preventable.
988 is one step in the direc-
tion of saving lives. This
early intervention can reduce
the burden on 911 and hos-
pital services. 988 will move
mental health and substance
use services out of the shad-
ows and into the main-
stream; it will send a message
that healing and getting help
are normal and important
parts of life.
What is 988?
988 is a direct three-digit
line to trained National Sui-
cide Prevention Llifeline cri-
sis counselors that will go live
July 16, 2022. With an easy
to remember 3-digit num-
ber, the Lifeline hopes to
reach many more people in
emotional crisis. This service
is provided free of charge
to the caller.
Any person of any age
can call or text 988. Services
will be available 24/7, year
round. They will include a
text option, translation ser-
vices for non-English speak-
ers, accessible options for
people who are deaf or hard
of hearing, and services for
minors.
How will this affect our
community?
The impact of 988 will
vary from community to
community. If your commu-
nity has reliable phone and
911 services, it will now have
access to 988, twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a
week.
Community members
will be able to receive confi-
dential services during men-
tal health emergencies with
minimal involvement of po-
lice or hospitals.
If you live in an area
where connecting to 911 is
difficult, you may experience
the same with 988. Please
know that chatting via the
suicidepreventionlifeline.org
website, texting NATIVE to
the Crisis Text Line at
741741, or texting 988 when
available in July may be the
best ways to connect in this
communities.
What happens when
you call, or text, 988?
You will be connected
with a trained crisis worker
from a local crisis center.
Wait times are anticipated to
be under one minute. The
caller can talk about any
emotional crisis, not just sui-
cide.
The crisis worker will
use active listening to assess
risk, determine if a person
is in danger, and assist the
person in feeling better and
accessing resources. If the
crisis worker believes the
caller is in danger, he or she
will work with the caller to
care a safety plan that does
not require calling emer-
gency services. Less than 3
percent of calls result in dis-
patching 911 services.
If you are calling about
a friend or family member
who is in distress, the per-
son on the phone will walk
you through how to help and
provide resources.