Suicide Prevention

If you are in a suicide crisis, please call or text 988, or chat with 988 here. If it is an immediate crisis, please contact 911. Mobile crisis teams are also available for Adults and Youth across MN - follow this link to see map for your local mobile crisis phone number.

Current Suicide Prevention Regional Coordination:

Northeast Minnesota Suicide Prevention Regional Coordinator: Ali Randall, 218-461-7089 or alicia.randall@co.carlton.mn.us.

Are you located somewhere other than Northeast Minnesota? Follow this link to see the map of all of our Suicide Prevention Regional Coordinators.

Northern Minnesota has a long history of working with communities toward the prevention of suicide. Currently, through legislative funding, administrated by the Minnesota Department of Health, Carlton County Public Health and Human Services was awarded a second round of funding to continue suicide prevention on behalf of a 30-County, 7-Tribal Nation region in Minnesota. The funding provides for six Regional Coordinators, in five regions. Tribal suicide prevention regional coordination is guided and directed by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. The goals of Suicide Prevention Regional Coordination are to ensure individuals are connected with resources, agencies and organizations are assisted with planning and implementation of suicide prevention efforts, and ultimately, the amount of suicide and related behaviors is reduced. 

Follow this link for a longer description of what the Suicide Prevention Regional Coordinators are working on, or skim the highlights below:

• Partnerships: participate and coordinate with partners to integrate strategies related to suicide prevention and mental health & well-being strategies across regions.
• Trainings: provide direct suicide prevention skills or general resource information trainings.
• Technical Assistance (TA): assist with deeper dives into suicide prevention, intervention, and/or postvention for interested partners, through policy, systems, and environmental changes, as well as distribution of resource communication materials.
• Special population work: prioritize specific populations strategies based on local data (Justice-Involved Youth, Females aged 11-18, Substance Use Prevention)

Suicide Prevention Local and Regional History:

TXT4Life began as a program funded under a Garrett Lee Smith SAMHSA Grant for the seven counties (Aitkin-Carlton-Cook-Itasca-Koochiching-Lake-St. Louis), and four Tribes (Fond du Lac, Red Lake, Bois Forte, Grand Portage) of Northeast Minnesota. Currently, the program is funded by State Legislative funding that was allocated in both the 2013 and 2015 Omnibus Bills. This funding has allowed for the expansion of the program to all of Minnesota. The coverage to all Minnesota counties by Regional Coordinators began implementation through a grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) in April 2018. Carlton County received a grant from DHS, on behalf of the Northern 30 Counties for Suicide Prevention Regional Coordinator work, working closely with Fond du Lac Behavioral Health, another grantee. In 2023, Carlton County was awarded a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health, to continue the work of Suicide Prevention Regional Coordination for this same region, and now partnering with the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe for the tribal suicide prevention aspect.

The program's 2022-2023 Annual Report can be found at this link.

988 Posters can be downloaded below (sample poster image included below). For print-ready files, please email Ali Randall (email address above).

Five Poster Versions in PDF Form (scroll within PDF for all 5 poster designs)