LOSS Team
Our Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS) Team is made up of trained clinicians
and volunteer survivors of suicide loss that offer meaningful support, resources,
and sources of hope to those that have lost a loved one to suicide.
Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors
LOSS Team
Mental Health America of Southeast Florida, in partnership with Florida Initiative for Suicide Prevention, is pleased to announce the creation of Broward County’s first LOSS team. MHA/FISP was awarded a contract from the United Way of Broward County through its funding of Prevention Services by the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition.
Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS)’s mission is to immediately offer survivors of suicide, support services designed to help survivors cope with the impact of a loved one’s death by suicide. The LOSS Team is set up to mitigate the aftermath of a death by suicide by offering intervention on a supportive basis. Survivors of death by suicide represent a very high risk of death by suicide based on several factors including grief, guilt, shame and depression. These factors represent a real community health crisis that would be mitigated with the addition of this program.
Family members and other survivors of suicide can ask the difficult questions and expect answers that are straightforward and clearly defined without ambiguity or judgement. By utilizing a clinical director and a peer specialist, the LOSS team connects with families and individuals dealing with tragedy in an empathic and humane way. The LOSS Team is equipped to work with the family and loved ones to help guide them through the process of grief and link them to other services to aid in the aftermath.
As a veteran mental health organization, we know that even the most mundane of tasks seem impossible in the shadow of grief, loss, and trauma. Survivors are given the opportunity to access their aid and ask difficult questions about grief and suicide in a supportive environment. We know these measures will bring a level of solace and healing to a difficult situation, and with our efforts we can hopefully prevent future tragedies.
For more information, please feel free to call:
954.746.2055 X134 or [email protected]
HISTORY
The Broward County LOSS Team is a postvention program that was established based on a national LOSS Team model originated in the 1990s by Dr. Frank Campbell. Dr. Campbell’s research showed that survivors of suicide loss took an average of 4.5 years to seek help. The national LOSS Team’s work reduced that timeframe to 43 days by connecting with suicide loss survivors immediately after a suicide occurs.
The LOSS Team grew out of the work done by the Broward Suicide Prevention Coalition (BSPC), which confirmed the need for such a program in the area. Around the same time, Mental Health America (MHA) of Southeast Florida acquired the Florida Initiative for Suicide Prevention (FISP), a nonprofit organization that aims to educate the public and professionals about suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. As a result, the MHA of Southeast Florida added the LOSS Team program under the umbrella of FISP.
954.746.2055 X134 or [email protected]
