Clackamas County is offering Spanish-speaking parents and caregivers a free training on how to spot suicide warning signs and respond to opioid overdoses in young people.

The session takes place Tuesday, Nov. 3, at the Clackamas County Juvenile Skills Center Training Room, according to the county's event listing. A pizza dinner starts at 6 p.m., with the training running from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The training is free.

The Lake Oswego Public Library has also hosted a QPR suicide prevention session, facilitated by Donna-Marie Drucker, Clackamas County's community mental health promotion and prevention coordinator. QPR stands for Question, Persuade, Refer, an evidence-based program that teaches people to recognize warning signs, ask directly about suicidal thoughts and connect someone to help.

The Nov. 3 training focuses specifically on youth and will be conducted entirely in Spanish. Attendees will practice identifying signs of suicide risk and opioid overdose in young people, according to the county's event page. Each participant takes home a free lockable storage device to help secure their home.

The training is open to parents, caregivers, extended family, mentors and any other adults 18 and older who work with or support youth and families.

Jessica Sandoval-Boland is the county contact for the event and can be reached at [email protected].

Why it matters locally

The training comes as Oregon continues to face some of the worst mental health outcomes in the country. A report published in October 2025 by the Common Sense Institute found that Oregon's overall suicide rate was 20.88 per 100,000 people in 2023, compared with a national average of 14.72. Among youth ages 10 to 24, approximately 14.2 per 100,000 died by suicide in 2022, versus about 10 per 100,000 nationally.

The same report found that between 2018 and 2022, roughly half of all youth suicide victims in Oregon had a diagnosed mental health disorder. Substance use was also a factor: non-alcohol substance use problems were present in 9.3% of suicides among 5- to 17-year-olds and 20.5% among 18- to 24-year-olds.

The county is also hosting an English-language QPR training on Thursday, Oct. 29, at the same Juvenile Skills Center.

Registration for the Nov. 3 Spanish-language training is available on the Clackamas County website.

Upcoming community events

  • Thursday, Oct. 29: QPR Suicide Prevention Training (English), Clackamas County Juvenile Skills Center
  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: Suicide and Overdose Prevention in Youth Training (Spanish), Clackamas County Juvenile Skills Center, 6 p.m.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.