Interview with Jenn Carson, Inland SoCal 211 Helpline, Crisis Line Supervisor

This episode features Jenn Carson Crisis Line Supervisor, Inland SoCal 211 Helpline supervisor, Mental Health First Aid and Assist Trainer, Social Work Internship Field Supervisor with the Inland SoCal 211 Helpline.

Transcript

Jenn Carson

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

mental health, suicide, san bernardino county, san bernardino, people, first aid, Inland, schools, children, suicide hotline, helpline, absolutely, response, socal, offered, crisis, folk, paraprofessionals, hope, invitations

SPEAKERS

Don, Jenn

Don  00:06

Hello, my name is Don English director of children deserve success and executive director of the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. And I want to welcome you to our Children Deserve Success Podcast. Monthly we will be sending out these recordings regarding all things related to child welfare and attendance, School Attendance Review Board, foster youth services, McKinney Vento Homeless Programs in our county and the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. This week my focus will be an interview with Jenn Carson, Inland SoCal 211 Helpline supervisor, Mental Health First aid and Assist Trainer, Social Work Internship Field Supervisor with the Inland SoCal 211 helpline. Jenn Welcome and thank you so much for being here this morning.

Jenn  01:03

Hey, Don, glad to be here.

Don  01:05

So, if you would please introduce yourself and tell us what Inland SoCal 211 Helpline is and how it services the county?

01:14

Yeah, no, definitely I'm glad to so, the Inland SoCal crisis and Suicide Helpline was founded in 1968. We're one of the oldest suicide hotlines in California. We're the only suicide hotline in Inland Southern California. We serve both counties, Riverside County and San Bernardino County. We're project of Inland SoCal 211, and endless SoCal United Way. And you can reach a local, culturally competent counselor 24/7 at 951-686-help. And that's been our number all 54 years.

Don  01:52

Wow. And I had no clue. And you know, what I really liked about your response was a culturally competent response. That's important. Because as you will know, certain cultures do not view mental health opportunities as something that we should take advantage of. 

Jenn  02:12

Absolutely. 

Don  02:13

So you've been featured on CNN, NPR and the BBC. What is your passion for this work? And what made you become a mental health activist?

02:22

Yeah, no, definitely. So unfortunately, I entered suicide prevention as a small child, I was preventing my own suicide. So I'm a childhood suicide attempt survivor. I attempted after some extreme, you know, trauma, child abuse. My mother did a custodial kidnapping. We were in hiding for five years. Unfortunately, my parent was arrested for multiple counts of homicide. And like many children, whose parents are incarcerated or children exposed to violence and trauma, abuse, I was struggling. I was very depressed. I was very traumatized. I was hiding in the school bathroom. My elementary school didn't have no counselors, no social workers, no psychologist, you know, back then that was not that wasn't a really thing. And so unfortunately, I was dealing with suicidal behaviors and suicidal thoughts. And so I wanted to somehow prevent so I actually started my career here in San Bernardino City as a school counselor, and worked specifically with special needs youth as a crisis counseling served on the crisis team and actually got an award from your Gangs and Drugs Task Force back in 2004 for violence prevention, I did a mentoring anti gang initiative, but started my career here. But later down the road decided I wanted to work purely in suicide prevention. last four years, I've been running the Inland SoCal crisis and suicide helpline. It's a blessing.

Don  04:00

Wow, I tell you what, since you kind of offered your services to the Gangs and Drugs Task Force, I mean, that's kind of how I was thinking.

04:07

That's…exactly sir, exactly, exactly, absolutely. 

Don  04:11

All right, as educators, we have students at least six hours a day. What can we do to be more preventative and educate ourselves to reach youth one, and then become that trusted adult for young people? When we see signs of suicidal ideation?

04:31

Yeah. I do a training for regarding children who have incarcerated parents. And I was talking to a group of kindergarten teachers once and I was saying, you know, when a child in the class during shared time says Mom or Dad got arrested, you know, what is your response? And I said, it should never be. We don't talk about that. Or let's talk about that at recess or any type of shameful response and I would say we need to have a non judgmental, open approach as to anything our children bring to our schools, you know, and be ready and prepared. And there should be no bad entrance. Any anywhere kid wants to go for help, that door should be open to them. As we know, our children often will connect with a paraprofessional. And those folks need to have the tools that they they need. Here in San Bernardino County, we do a training called Safe talk suicide alertness, we do another one called Mental Health First Aid. And we hear time and time again, when bus drivers or paraprofessionals get that training. They know how to recognize signs that a child might be having a mental health issue and then know how to connect them to help. And so we really need to promote, you know, getting all of our folks trained and and recognizing signs of distress and how to link to help.

Don  06:02

Wow, and you talked about, you know, in previous years, when we were younger, that was kind of taboo to talk about. 

Jenn  06:10

Absolutely. 

Don  06:11

And we know that since pandemic, suicide rates have jumped off the charts, I think for African Americans gone up 80%. So, you know, that should be our focus and also with wellness centers in our schools. So we're gonna really focus in on that, as administrators of child welfare and attendance, which I think is really important. Talk a little bit about 988. Is that something that people kknow about?

Jenn  06:40

Yeah, I want to I want to go in a go back a little bit. You mentioned this, the spike and African American suicides. And so I wanted to address that. I consider suicide rates a weathervane. So when we have this ginormous spike, in black children under the age of 12, who are committing suicide at very, very high rates, and we have a spike with our Latina teens, and our indigenous teens. Okay, so these are three of the ginormous recent spikes. Because during the pandemic, as you know, as we went a year or two into the pandemic, they said, Oh, suicide rates went down. No, they did not. They went down with folk who got adult folk who got to work from home and sip on a latte while they worked from home. They did not go down and many groups and those weather vanes, I'm trying to warn everyone, our children here in our community in San Bernardino. And so that needs to be a focus. You brought up 988, 988 was implemented at the federal level, in 2020. And so let me tell you about 988, and I'm gonna tell you the intent of 988 where it's at now and then our hopes for the future. Right. So the current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-talk, okay. And, but on July 16, of this year 2022, 988 is going to go live, you can call 988 from any device, okay? And, and it will go to one of the 200 national centers. Here, if you call in San Bernardino, it's going to go the LA center or the San Diego center. Okay. And so calling 988 And, you know, can get you to try and assistance right away. This is amazing, because back in the 70s when they launched 911. At that time, in many communities, if you called for a health emergency, the cops showed up with a police car, there weren't EMTs there was no medical emergency response. Our police were under resourced and under served to do that. Well, today and 2022 the same things happening with mental health. Our police are having to respond to mental health and they don't want to, they're not prepared to. So this is an exciting time When 988 is launched. It's the beginning of decoupling police from crisis mental health response. And the same way we decoupled health crisis and the 70's. So what's going to happen is is mental health, people in mental health crisis are going to start getting response from mental health crisis workers instead of law enforcement. Law enforcement want this behavioral health want this consumers want this. This is going to be incredibly helpful, especially for our families of color our disabled folk, okay. And other groups that it hasn't been working well the current system. So this is a really, really exciting time, unfortunately, in California, AB 988, the Miles Hall Act didn't pass. So we're implementing on July 16, with a little bit of emergency funds from the Governor, that the miles Hall act and honor Miles Hall, a boy of color, a black boy with schizophrenia, who died in a police interaction, it didn't pass. It's still in committee. So I hope that all of our community really advocates to get that passed, it's going to cause a small surcharge on your cell phone bill, like the surcharge for 911. And I hope, I hope we all consider that this is something important to fund. Absolutely. That's so important, and informative as well. And so I really appreciate that response. Is there any current or upcoming program in education that you'd like to highlight as a best practice? Yeah. So there is, there is amazing work and mental health education here in San Bernardino. We have a class called Assist, it's a two day class for our professionals, people like teachers, school counselors, you know, can take a two day suicide first aid class and get certified. And, and so that's one class. Another class is called Safe Talk, and that is suicide alertness. And that is incredible for our moms, our grandmas our, you know, our paraprofessionals that our schools, you know, and so on amazing training. I reside in Moreno Valley. And the Moreno Valley mosque just turned every one over 15. Not the leadership at the church at the mosque, sorry, didn't miss the church at the mosque. But all attendees of the mosque got Mental Health First Aid trained. And they've seen huge outcomes since they've been doing this last few years. And so Mental Health First Aid is another class we offer here in San Bernardino, which is great for everyone. And that one is an eight hour training. Incredible. And that's offered here in San Bernardino County. We also have a class called Know the signs suicide is preventable. It's a 60 minute class. It's offered in English, Spanish, virtual, and in person. And then we also have a program called Living Work Start for all of our students in San Bernardino. And that is an online class that they can take. And so that class is something phenomenal that is offered as well. And if you connect here with the this San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, you can get information on any of those trainings and when they're available.

Don  12:47

All right. Outstanding. What's the good news when it comes to mental health issues in our country? And County, especially for you? And then is there anything we should be celebrating as it relates to our county implementing mental health programs in our schools and communities?

Jenn  13:11

Yeah, I have some really great news. So I shared with you that I'm a suicide attempt survivor. And I have something credible to tell you nine out of 10 people, including myself as a childhood child suicide attempt survivor, nine out of 10 people whose who attempt suicide and survive will never die of suicide. That is because the help that is offered include including in this county is saving lives. Okay. And some of the help that it will that occurred on my journey. I was hospitalized at Loma Linda. I had a behavioral health hospitalization. So sometimes people need outpatient services. Some people need prevention tools. Some people like me, who it became more severe actually need a life saving hospitalization, right, unfortunately, but we want to offer the least invasive intervention. And that's why our our crisis lines can be a great tool and our crisis mobile units can be a great tool and so on. Right. But along that spectrum of help, we know that help is working. You know, and so this is this is truly exciting. And I think that I think that there's increased awareness about mental health. I went into my local coffee shop, I'm finishing my doctorate. I'm going to be Dr. Jenn and August. Yay. So I'm doing some homework at my local coffee shop. The staff there, there's four there's four or five teenage boys, they're all boys of color, all young boys, whatever, you know, boys that are looked at and made assumptions about in this Country. They go, Oh, it's the suicide hotline lady. We save some songs for you. They made me a mental health playlist. 

Don  13:11

Wow. 

Jenn  13:11

And I started crying. They started playing songs for me about mental health. And they were like, it's the suicide hotline lady. And these are just boys here in the community that I had started chatting with and they had downloaded. They're like, we know you're Gen X. So we wanted to teach you some new songs. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I see Gen Z. I see them. I see what they're doing. I see them destigmatizing and getting out there and saying you can you know, and this is work that was laid by many people, right? You know, Simone Biles are incredible gymnast. When she says I'm gonna have to take a beat for my mental health, right? Ruby Barker, the star from bridgerton. It's it's such a famous show on Netflix. She announced this week, she said unfortunately, I had to do a hospitalization for my depression, you know, young woman of color announcing this on Twitter, she was like, if you ever need help get help. It's like this. This speaking out this destigmatizing is going to get us on that path where our youth know how to recognize if they're in trouble. And then how to go get help.

Don  16:19

Wow. Dr. Jenn Carson, our guest not to be confused with Dr. Ben Carson.

Jenn  16:25

Exactly. I know. Right. You know, I want to I want to tell you a quick story. I went to see a great aunt recently. She said she was talking with some older folks in the family. And they were saying, Oh, that poor Jenny what will happen to poor Jenny because because I'm you know, they think oh, she's she's the daughter of a lifer. She's going to end up no good, right, poor Jenny. And she said, you know, poor Jenny, my beep The kid is brilliant, is what she told me. She said, and, you know, so many assumptions made, you know, of our children, you know, as myself as a child of a lifer, you know, serving license and California prison, these assumptions made and it's like, even more barriers for you know, here I am I, I'm, I'm disabled, you know, I have, you know, I have this, this trauma background. But like, you know, our, you know, our other kids from various marginalized groups, they're, they're expected to not make it through this. But you know, it's just, there's a lot of hope, you know, our kids with the support they need, you know, can survive thrive. And and then, you know, lift as they climb, bring other people forward.

Don  17:38

And youth rise or descend? 

Jenn  17:40

Yes. 

Don  17:40

to our expectations? 

Jenn  17:41

Oh, yeah. 

Don  17:43

So. And, you know, as a educator for 28 years and a formal teacher, you were talking earlier about how, in the past that law enforcement word had also that they weren't really trained in. So we did that oftentimes in our school system without clinicians, which is another thing to celebrate. With your wealth of knowledge in this field, and I think you kind of touched on it before, how can we equip parents and the community with the tools that they need? You talked about some trainings, I thought that was offered in San Bernardino City. So that's the first part but the other is to identify any red flags that may be happening in their own home? Because so often, you know, it's almost as if we were not aware of our surroundings in our own dwellings. So So what would you say about that as a relates to just really bringing that awareness to us in our family environment?

Jenn  18:43

No, absolutely. You know, I always say that, you know, imagine a Nana in 1922 here in San Bernardino, you know, and one of her little ones chokes, most likely she would open the door and scream for help because she didn't know the Heimlich maneuver, right? So that that could have happened with a Nana here in our community here in San Bernardino in 1922. Well, your average grandma now would know how to respond to a choking because they've taken first aid and CPR. It is my hope that all of our grandmas in this next decade have taken Mental Health First Aid, right. And you know, when you ask like, you know, what are we looking for? When are we concerned? Right. And so, what I what I say is don't ignore invitations. So let me tell you what that means. What I mean by that because I'm don't mean an invitation like wedding invitation. I want you to imagine a five year old boy. He gets off the special needs bus that drops in front of the house, okay. He enters the house. He flings himself on the couch, crosses his his arms in front of his chest, right? scrunches up his face and looks down. What Is he inviting the grandparent or the parent to ask him? What's the problem? Exactly? What's wrong? What happened? He's gonna go, I was at recess. And then Jaden pushed me down. Right? So he's going to tell you the story of what occurred. And then as you're listening, you're going to find out was Jaden a little bit aggressive, or in the story do we hear? And then he shoved my face down and I couldn't breathe? Well, then that's a serious problem, right? So you're assessing for what it is, after you explored the invitations. What we need to do is when we see mental health invitations, right, when we see our loved one have changes, they're withdrawn. Their hygiene changes, their energy level changes, they're sleeping too much. They're sleeping too little. They're not eating, they're eating too much. They have a change in the academics. When we see changes in someone that indicate something is wrong. We have to start with Are you okay? You know, I'm here for you tell me what's going on. So the basic suicide first aid steps are asked, listen, get help, ask, listen, get help, ask, listen, get help, every parent can learn those steps. And if we ask, and then we truly listen for a long time. And then we get help. That's where you're going to see a change. You can call the Inland SoCal crisis helpline. If you're a grandparent or parent, and you're with your teen and you you want a little bit of extra help, you can call us 24 hours a day. And you could put us on a three way call, right? And you'll reach a English Spanish counselor, 24/7. And we can talk to you you can you can call 1-800-273-talk the national line starting in July 988, okay, so you can reach a crisis counselor 24 hours a day, our youth can reach Crisis Text Line by 741741. In San Bernardino County, any adult can get a crisis counselor within 120 seconds. utilize that. Know what I'm saying utilize that. And so, you know, ask, listen, get help. And you know, and there's all kinds of help. If you're a family that prefers faith based help, we can connect you to that, you know, call 211, the social service referral line, we will get you to the referrals you need. But and 211 the social service referral line is also 24/7, English, Spanish, and some like 250 Other languages by translation. So at any point, you can call and reach a helper 24 hours a day in San Bernardino County.

Don  22:37

Wow! A few years ago, we were legislated to include suicide prevention on the back of school ID cards, which I thought was really important. And it's going to be even more important to have three digits versus seven digits, I would think so that we can memorize that. 

Jenn  22:56

Exactly. 

Don  22:58

Until you what Dr. Jen, you've been phenomenal. as advertised. I appreciate so much. 

Jenn  23:06

I'm so glad to be with you. 

Don  23:07

Yeah, I will take you up on your invitation to be more active with the Gangs and Drug Task Force though.

Jenn  23:16

I show up anywhere I show up. And you know, I do I do want to I took, I took a call from at the suicide hotline from someone trying to x exit the life, get out of gangs, and it sticks with me forever. We do get a quite a few calls from them. And so that's another group that we need to help, you know, with re-entry.

Don  23:44

Appreciate that because now we can drill down on that I didn't think about the fact that you know, a lot of people who no longer want to be involved in a detrimental space and time in their lives. 

Jenn  23:56

Absolutely 

Don  23:56

reach out to the suicide prevention hotline. That's really important. 

Jenn  23:59

Yeah. 

Don  24:00

And it's important for you to share that. 

Jenn  24:02

Yeah. 

Don  24:02

So we'd love to have you speak at one of our general sessions. 

Jenn  24:05

Absolutely, sir, 

Don  24:07

that are every first Wednesday of the month 7:30 to 8:30 at the sheriff's department right here in beautiful San Bernardino, California.

Jenn  24:16

I will be there. I'll be there, sir.

Don  24:18

I'll tell you what, I appreciate you. And thank you all for listening. We hope you find this information valuable. If you have any topics or questions that you would like addressed, please email them directly to cwa@sbcss.net. As always, we hope you stay well and continue to transform life through education