Forefront was founded in 2013 by Jennifer Stuber, PhD, a UW School of Social Work professor and mental health policy expert, and Sue Eastgard, MSW, a national leader in youth suicide prevention, to address suicide prevention at a policy and systems level, after Dr. Stuber’s husband died by suicide.
Forefront’s earliest work was in public policy, advocating for legislation that required all health care professionals in Washington to receive suicide prevention education, and supporting the development of the state’s first suicide prevention plan. The Matt Adler Suicide Assessment, Treatment and Management Act (named for Dr. Stuber’s husband) was passed in 2012.
To date, we have championed 11 Washington state laws supporting suicide prevention through a range of approaches: establishing and refining training requirements for health care providers, reducing access to items like medications and firearms (i.e. “lethal means safety” counseling for individuals), and providing funding for training and technical assistance to organizations serving those at greater risk of suicide.
Forefront has earned a national reputation for our innovative approach to mental health promotion and suicide prevention, piloting first-in-class programs, and partnering with regional and national organizations to make our programs accessible to a wider audience. As a result, Washington state has become a leader in suicide prevention, often the first to implement policies and practices that are later adopted by other states.
One early program, launched in 2013, was Forefront Cares, which provided support for those recently bereaved-by-suicide, through peer support and care packages; in 2014, in partnership with Safe Crossings, this expanded to include supporting children and youth bereaved by suicide.
In 2015, we launched our first schools-based program, Forefront in the Schools (FIS) to provide robust support for schools and school districts through dedicated coaching and developing customized policies, plans and curricula around mental health and suicide prevention. In 2016, we were asked to extend our support to a higher education task force formed by Washington’s legislature to improve suicide prevention programming in 2- and 4-year schools. To date, our in-house schools-based programing has supported over 43 high schools and 60 higher education institutions.
In 2015 we also introduced Forefront Suicide Prevention LEARN®, our flagship gatekeeper training, which incorporates lethal means safety best practices in its curriculum—a groundbreaking innovation in the field of gatekeeper trainings. Since its introduction, we have partnered with organizations serving many diverse populations who are at increased risk of suicide, to develop customized, culturally competent LEARN curricula for their target audience/clientele. To date, over 30,000 Washingtonians have participated in LEARN trainings.
In 2018, we launched Safer Homes Suicide Aware, a program teaching practical skills and distributing free locking devices to help change public behavior on limiting unauthorized access to firearms and medications, which are the two most common means of suicide. Known as “lethal means safety”, this is one of only four interventions that is known to reduce suicide rates at population levels.
Also in 2018, we transitioned Forefront Cares to Crisis Connections. This program is now known as Washington Support After Suicide and continues the important work of supporting newly bereaved-by-suicide Washingtonians.
In 2019, we partnered with the AIMS Center in the UW’s School of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences to develop All Patients Safe, an interactive, online suicide prevention training for medical professionals.
In 2020 we moved online, offering trainings via Zoom, partnering with mental health organizations to develop webinars for teachers, parents and caregivers trying to support kids and youth, and rolling out new trainings on Grief After Suicide, Firearms Safety for Suicide Prevention, and hosting free annual conference series such as COVID to Connectedness, Reconstructing Resilience, and Suicide Prevention &…, bringing together international, national and regionally renowned speakers, professionals and those with lived experience of suicide.
In 2023, our school-based programming announced two new partnerships—The JED Foundation and Seattle Public Schools—to provide more support for high schools across Washington.
We develop innovative, evidence-informed suicide prevention programs that are grounded in a social-ecological public health model. We currently offer online and in-person trainings and programs. Our recent public policy work has focused on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and WA State Behavioral Health Response Network, and the Governor’s Challenge, a program aimed at reducing veteran suicide.
With the departure of co-founders Sue Eastgard in 2016 and Dr. Stuber in 2021, Forefront is now led by Center Director Larry Wright, Ph.D., with faculty advisors Elaine Walsh, Ph.D., R.N. (UW School of Nursing), supporting Forefront in the Schools and youth programming, and Jeffrey Sung, M.D. (UW School of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences), supporting Safer Homes. We remain focused on our mission, which is to help people take action to prevent suicide in their communities.