As Suicide Prevention Month in September winds down, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services is ramping up its efforts to support residents. 

The state announced new and expanded partnerships Monday aimed at training mental health professionals and healthcare workers to help reduce suicide deaths in Wisconsin.

The department extended its current partnership with the health system Aspirus and created a new alliance with Counseling on Access to Lethal Means, or CALM America. Aspirus is expanding its training to communities on how to use the Question, Persuade, and Refer method to help people who are at risk of self-harm and recommend they seek mental health support. 

“Beyond helping more providers and community members recognize the warning signs of suicide and addressing gaps in healthcare access, both partnerships reduce and remove the stigma around mental health discussions and strongly encourage the kind of open and honest conversations that can save lives,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement. 

Firearms and suicide

Easy access to lethal means is among the known risk factors that make dying by suicide more likely. Firearms were involved in more than half the suicides recorded in Milwaukee County in 2025.

Experts say temporarily separating people experiencing a mental health crisis from firearms can save lives.

Milwaukee County also offers crisis response and behavioral health services, while several local organizations provide free or sliding-scale mental health care.

There are resources that reduce access to guns during times of mental health crisis, including safe storage options such as the Wisconsin Gun Shop Project Live Today – Put It Away.

The project partners with participating gun shops, including several in Milwaukee County, to provide firearm safety information and temporary off-site storage options, often for a low fee.

Getting help

For those experiencing a crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via call or text.

The Department of Health Services offers these tips on how you can help someone who is experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors. 

• Ask the person if they are thinking about suicide.
• Be there for the person and show support, either through being physically present, talking on the phone when you can, or through other means.
• Keep them safe by reducing access to lethal items or places while they are in crisis.
• Help them connect with professional and community resources and services.
• Follow up with them after connecting them with services to see how they are doing.

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State hopes to prevent suicides through new and expanded partnerships

by Devin Blake, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
September 29, 2026

<h1>State hopes to prevent suicides through new and expanded partnerships</h1> <p class="byline">by Devin Blake, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service <br />September 29, 2026</p> <p>As Suicide Prevention Month in September winds down, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services is ramping up its efforts to support residents.&nbsp;</p> <p>The state announced new and expanded partnerships Monday aimed at training mental health professionals and healthcare workers to help reduce suicide deaths in Wisconsin.</p> <p>The department extended its current partnership with the health system Aspirus and created a new alliance with Counseling on Access to Lethal Means, or CALM America. Aspirus is expanding its training to communities on how to use the Question, Persuade, and Refer method to help people who are at risk of self-harm and recommend they seek mental health support.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Beyond helping more providers and community members recognize the warning signs of suicide and addressing gaps in healthcare access, both partnerships reduce and remove the stigma around mental health discussions and strongly encourage the kind of open and honest conversations that can save lives,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement.&nbsp;</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Firearms and suicide</strong></h2> <p>Easy access to lethal means is among the known risk factors that make dying by suicide more likely. Firearms were involved in more than half the <a href="https://milwaukeenns.org/2026/07/07/majority-of-milwaukee-suicides-involve-firearms-heres-how-to-get-help/">suicides recorded in Milwaukee County in 2025</a>.</p> <p>Experts say temporarily separating people experiencing a mental health crisis from firearms can save lives.</p> <p>Milwaukee County also offers crisis response and behavioral health services, while several local organizations provide free or sliding-scale mental health care.</p> <p><a href="https://milwaukeenns.org/2026/05/01/updated-resources-for-free-gun-locks-in-milwaukee/">There are resources</a> that reduce access to guns during times of mental health crisis, including safe storage options such as the Wisconsin Gun Shop Project <a href="https://livetodayputitaway.org/">Live Today – Put It Away</a>.</p> <p>The project partners with participating gun shops, including several in Milwaukee County, to provide firearm safety information and temporary off-site storage options, often for a low fee.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Getting help</strong></h2> <p>For those experiencing a crisis, the 988 Suicide &amp; Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via call or text.</p> <p>The Department of Health Services offers these tips on how you can help someone who is experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors.&nbsp;</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Ask the person if they are thinking about suicide.</li> <li>Be there for the person and show support, either through being physically present, talking on the phone when you can, or through other means.</li> <li>Keep them safe by reducing access to lethal items or places while they are in crisis.</li> <li>Help them connect with professional and community resources and services.</li> <li>Follow up with them after connecting them with services to see how they are doing.</li> </ul> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://milwaukeenns.org/2026/09/29/state-hopes-to-prevent-suicides-through-new-and-expanded-partnerships/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://milwaukeenns.org&quot;&gt;Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/milwaukeenns.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-NNS-Favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://milwaukeenns.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=180121&amp;amp;ga4=G-HGM4XK3QCM&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://milwaukeenns.org/2026/09/29/state-hopes-to-prevent-suicides-through-new-and-expanded-partnerships/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/milwaukeenns.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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