Niobrara County hires new prevention specialist

Alex Hargrave
Posted 9/23/20

Katie Krein, originally from Torrington, is taking over as Niobrara County’s new prevention specialist.

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Niobrara County hires new prevention specialist

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NIOBRARA COUNTY – Katie Krein, originally from Torrington, is taking over as Niobrara County’s new prevention specialist. 

As prevention specialist, Krein will work on reducing tobacco, alcohol and other substance abuse and will provide mental health support and suicide prevention training through Niobrara County School District No. 1 and throughout the county in general.

With a background in the Department of Family Services and a degree in psychology, Krein said she is “in the people business,” like her husband, Bo Krein, Lusk’s Chief of Police. 

“Being from a small town you kind of learn that it’s the choices that everybody makes that change the community in the end,” Krein said. 

September is suicide prevention month, making Krein’s hire timely. In addition to writing grants to fund mental health support programs, Krein will also provide Question, Persuade, Refer Gatekeeper Training for suicide prevention for local educators and school employees as well as a Signs of Suicide program for middle and high school aged students, to teach them to talk to one another about mental health.

Suicide is a public health crisis, one that Wyoming struggles with. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 147 Wyomingites died by suicide in 2018, and in 2020, Wyoming ranks second in the highest number of suicides with a rate of 25.4 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people. This is well above the national rate of 14.8. Suicide is the seventh leading cause of death in the state.

The Wyoming Department of Health announced a Wyoming-based Suicide Prevention hotline on Aug. 11 after Gov. Mark Gordon announced he would allocate $400,000 to the cause in January. Before it launched at Central Wyoming Counseling Center in Casper, Wyoming was the only state in the nation without a local call center for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Wyoming Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Residents can also text “WYO” to 741-741 for the Crisis Text Line. 

NCSD Superintendent George Mirich said he is happy the prevention specialist position will continue.

“Our district has worked with this program in the past and we have benefitted from the resources available to us,” Mirich wrote in an email to The Herald. “We hope this continues in the future as the district works collaboratively with the prevention coalition and the prevention specialist.”

Krein said due to the smaller student body within Niobrara County schools, counselors and school resource officers know students better and can better recognize their needs.

“When mental health support is needed, I know they’re quick to get on top of that,” she said.

Substance abuse goes hand in hand with mental health support, Krein said. Alcohol and tobacco are avenues both youth and adults turn to in an attempt to cope with depression and other problems. This is another issue Krein is poised to take on.

“For a community when there’s not a lot to do and we all live in rural areas, alcohol is big. You learn to drink at your first branding, that’s typically how it works,” Krein said. “Hopefully changing that mindset in some kids, one that ultimately keeps the kids safe.”

She’ll also oversee training for bartenders and tobacco prevention programs at the school district. She wants to start a program to provide the Lusk Police Department and the Niobrara County Sheriff’s Department with suicide prevention training in the future.

“So hopefully that’s what I can bring to the table here,” Krein said.