Reflection Room: Team FCCS Talks Mental Health, Connection, and Suicide Prevention

“Sometimes the person who needs support is a family member. Sometimes it is a coworker. Sometimes, if we are honest, it is us.” 

This message, shared with members of Team FCCS, shaped September’s Reflection Room, which recognized National Suicide Prevention Month by offering practical ways to encourage those who are struggling to seek help, including when that person is us. 

“People need people,” said Alyx Gold, a local recovery advocate whose personal experiences with grief, addiction and a mental health crisis shaped her work and advocacy. Ms. Gold joined Jenna Riggs, a mental health professional, and Rachel Pickett, a community advocate, for a candid conversation about connection, resilience and the importance of supporting one another. 

Sometimes, It Starts with Noticing 

Struggling is not always visible. “Poor mental health also wears lipstick. It does not matter how good you look. You can still be struggling,” said Ms. Pickett. 

She explained that coworkers may continue to smile, complete their work and appear fine while managing serious challenges that others cannot see. 

Noticing small changes is the first step, Ms. Riggs noted. Someone may become quieter, withdraw from conversations or seem different. She said that recognizing these signs can prompt a supportive check-in. 

Have the Courage to Ask 

Fear or stigma can sometimes prevent people from starting difficult conversations, the panel agreed, encouraging employees to move beyond the usual “How are you?” and create space for honesty. 

One question discussed was simple: What do you need? The question does not assume understanding or require solving the problem, Ms. Riggs explained. 

This same idea aligns with the FCCS Way fundamental to Engage with Compassionate Empathy, which encourages Team FCCS to listen without judgment and seek to understand what someone is experiencing. 

You Do Not Have to Fix It 

Helping someone through a difficult moment does not require having the perfect words. “Stay there. Be there,” said Ms. Pickett as she described her own experience calling a crisis hotline. 

The person on the line did not fix her situation but stayed with her long enough for her to cope and begin to move forward, Ms. Pickett explained. 

The panelists reminded Team FCCS that even helping professionals may be carrying challenges that others do not see. Employees may be grieving, caregiving or managing stress from home. Sometimes the people who support others also need support themselves. 

Connection Is Prevention 

Being there for someone also means knowing when additional support is needed. The panel highlighted the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which provides free and confidential help at any hour for mental health distress, suicidal thoughts, concerns related to substance use, or guidance on helping someone else. 

The speakers returned to one central idea: connection matters. “People are a vehicle of change,” said Ms. Riggs. 

Team FCCS employees may not always know what someone else is carrying, but they can notice. They can ask. They can listen. And they can stay. 

"Be the person who checks in."

If you or a colleague are navigating the aftermath of a critical incident, a traumatic event, or simply the day-to-day stressors of this work, members of our agency’s internal Peer Support Team are available to talk, listen, and offer a safe space to process what you’re going through. Click here to learn more about Peer Support (you must be logged into the FCCS network to view).

If you need additional support, our Emotional Wellbeing Solutions program offers 24/7 confidential in-the-moment emotional support and connections. Any member of Team FCCS can access the program through the www.liveandworkwell.com website (use access code EAP) or by calling 800.354.3950. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Post-Adoption Supports from FCCS Build More Forever Families for Children in Foster Care

Image
To help more children in foster care find permanency in their placement, Franklin County Children Services is providing access to more supports and long-term financial resources to families willing to commit to adoption. “I think support is very important for families,” stressed Raquel Breckenridge, Family Services Director for Permanency at FCCS. Over the past year, her Adoptions team has connected 123 children previously in the agency’s care with “forever families.” November is National Adoption Month, an opportunity to increase awareness and support for children in the foster care system who are waiting for permanent, loving families. “Over the years, we have seen an increase in permanency achieved through kinship adoptions,” pointed out Ms. Breckenridge. She adds that grandparents, aunts and uncles, other relatives and family friends often start out caring for children who can no longer safely remain in the custody of their parents. To help these kinship caregivers take the next st...
Read more

UP, UP & AWAY: FCCS, Child Safety Partners Launch New Effort to Prevent Deadly Child Drug Exposures

Image
Little kids don’t know what these drugs can do. But parents and adults do. More than 60,000 children visit emergency rooms across our country each year because of medication poisoning. The number of children under five treated after mistakenly eating or touching marijuana products grew exponentially in just four years. And as the use of fentanyl and potent painkillers continue to impact Central Ohio, doctors and poison centers are seeing more deadly and near-fatal accidental exposures among children. To educate parents and adults about how to protect young children against what can be a life-threatening accident, Franklin County Children Services (FCCS) and its child safety partners are launching a new community education effort: “Lock it UP, Clean it UP, and Put it AWAY.” “These are not cases of intentional harm. They are tragic, preventable accidents,” shared FCCS Executive Director Chip Spinning. “Little hands don’t know what they are touching, but parents and adults do. Our immedia...
Read more

FCCS Collaboration in Courtroom Key Component to Keeping Kids Safer

Image
Spending nearly 300 hours in the courtroom - or the average time it would take to read 67 books in a single year - the legal team at Franklin County Children Services works closely with partners in the Franklin County Courts to help keep children and teens safer and create positive, lasting change for families. “All of our work is geared at children’s safety and ultimately helping to increase the functioning of the family unit,” said FCCS Deputy Chief Counsel Julie Murrell, part of the agency’s team of attorneys, legal aides, paralegals, clerks, clerical staff, and court liaisons.  The department works most often with the judges and magistrates in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Domestic Relations and Juvenile Branch as well as the Probate Court. And, according to Deputy Chief Counsel Jennifer Himes-Riley, the FCCS legal team is involved from the beginning of a case to custody end, assisting the family and caseworkers in finding the safest plan of care for a child.  ...
Read more