Metro Area LOSS Team Update

As you may know, The Kim Foundation and Region 6 Behavioral Health have been busy this summer establishing a LOSS Team in the Omaha Metro area. In June, we held three sets of interviews and were excited to offer 14 individuals and clinicians a place on the team! Of those 14, we were able to get a dozen of them through the three-hour orientation training in July. Dr. Belau, Co-Director of both the Lancaster LOSS Team and the Nebraska State Suicide Prevention Coalition, came to Omaha to conduct the training. The next step in our training process is attending and observing real call-outs. Each Metro LOSS Team “trainee” will be required to shadow at least two call-outs under the guidance of the Lancaster Team before becoming an “active” team member.

The Metro Area LOSS Team has already begun to work with the Sarpy County Sherriff’s Department after a suicide has been completed. Until final trainings are completed, we will call the Lancaster Team to establish an on-call team. This team typically consists of a team leader, a clinician, and a “trainee”. Some calls may require an additional team member to be present, depending on the circumstance.

Once we begin to grow our “active” group of team members, we will be able to respond to calls independent from the Lancaster LOSS Team. We will continue accepting applications on an ongoing basis, offering interviews, and orientations as often as needed.

About Jill Sauser, The Kim Foundation Project Coordinator

Jill graduated with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Speech Communication from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2009. During her time at UNO, she completed a two year PR practicum program where she worked with numerous nonprofit clients including the MS Society, The Archdiocese of Omaha, The Omaha Food Bank, and YWCA. Since becoming Project Coordinator at The Kim Foundation in April 2014, she has become an active member of the Nebraska State Suicide Prevention Coalition, The Omaha Metro Hoarding Taskforce, the Early Childhood Mental Health Coalition, the Metro Area LOSS Team, and is helping lead a community-wide health improvement initiative with the Douglas County Health Department called, “Just Reach Out,” which is focused on improving the people’s view on mental and behavioral health treatment.