Grantee Types: Garrett Lee Smith State

Maryland’s Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention Network (MD-SPIN) provides a continuum of suicide prevention training, resources, and technical assistance to advance the development of a comprehensive suicide prevention and early intervention service system for youth and young adults. MD-SPIN will increase the number of youth, ages 10-24, identified, referred and receiving quality behavioral health services, with a focus on serving high risk youth populations (LGBTQ, transition age, veterans and military families, youth with emotional and behavioral concerns) and in target settings (schools, colleges/universities, juvenile services facilities, primary care, emergency departments). Led by the Maryland Mental Hygiene Administration, key partners include the University of Maryland Department of Psychiatry, the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Maryland Coalition of Families for Children’s Mental Health, the Community Behavioral Health Association of Maryland, and the public education system (1424 public kindergarten to 12th grade schools, 30 public university/college/community colleges, and 12 juvenile facilities programs). Goals are to: 1) enhance culturally competent, effective, and accessible community-based services and programs by developing a network that includes technical assistance and support, 2) broaden public awareness of suicide by utilizing MD-SPIN to support marketing and dissemination/ diffusion efforts related to suicide prevention for youth/young adults, 3) increase evidence-based training opportunities for professionals and others who work with high risk groups by training a diverse, multidisciplinary group of youth and adults across the state using online suicide prevention programs (Kognito) and evidence-based resources to promote continuity of care, and 4) assure effective services to those who have attempted suicide or others affected by suicide attempt or death by developing a state training and technical assistance model to promote referral and access to and follow through with high quality care. MD-SPIN will serve youth and young adults (64% White, 27.9% Black, 4.3% Hispanic, 9% of families below the poverty level statewide, with local jurisdictions up to 26% poverty). Despite a suicide rate consistent with the national average, MD youth report higher rates of suicidal ideation (16.2%) and suicide attempts (10.9%). We anticipate training 1,574 (1,000 secondary school staff, 500 higher education staff, 24 primary care providers (PCPs), 10 ED and inpatient providers, 20 youth/young adult peers, and 20 family members) individuals in Year 1; 4,172 (1,000 primary school, 2,000 secondary school, 1,000 higher education, 72 PCPs, 20 ED/inpatient providers, 40 peers, and 40 family) individuals in Year 2; and 6,304 (1,500 primary, 3,000 secondary, 1,500 higher education, 144 PCPs, 40 ED/inpatient, 60 peers, and 60 family) individuals in Year 3, and 6,988 (2,000 primary, 3,000 secondary, 1,500 higher education, 288 PCPs, 40 ED/inpatient, 80 peers, and 80 family) individuals in each Year 4 and Year 5, with 26,026 youth identified as being at risk for suicide and referred for additional evaluation/ services if each person trained identifies one person.

Building Caring Connections in Maine will expand and enhance the Maine Suicide Prevention Program, a nationally recognized leader in youth suicide prevention. Strategies include provision of training and resources to key groups; suicide screening, assessment, treatment and follow-up services for youth; outreach to high-risk youth and survivors; and facilitating implementation of legislation requiring public school staff in Maine to receive suicide prevention education.The project builds upon a solid state-level infrastructure of youth suicide prevention resources including a statewide crisis hotline, website and resource center; training, education and technical assistance to schools, health care providers and communities and gathering and disseminating suicide data. The proposed project supports realization of key goals of the 2013 Maine Suicide Prevention Program Plan, developed with significant input from many diverse public and private stakeholders statewide and reflecting the National Suicide Prevention Strategy. Maine is especially noted for its school-based work, specifically bringing the Lifelines Student Lessons and School Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention Protocol Guidelines into the national evidence base and for contributing to nationally produced tools and resources. This project expands statewide education, training and outreach services and offers new screening, assessment, treatment and follow-up services for at-risk youth to age 24.Maine takes a public health approach to suicide prevention. The program is guided by an Advisory Council based upon a public-private partnership. Project goals are designed to support key goals and objectives of the program plan and are tailored to address some emerging priorities in Maine. Priorities include: State legislation passed in 2013 requiring all public school staff to obtain suicide prevention education; the proposed state health plan includes a suicide screening strategy; a expressed need to improve screening, assessment and follow-up practices in School-based Health Centers (SBHC) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs); and there are increased requests for postvention support.Project goals include facilitating the implementation of school-wide staff education in public schools; enhancing screening, assessment, treatment and follow-up with indicated youth in FQHCs and SBHCs; enhancing training, technical assistance and resources provided to direct service staff in key settings serving at-risk youth such as LGBTQ, tribal, young adults aged 18-24 in non-college settings and military families; strategic outreach and postvention support following a suicide and local evaluation to demonstrate the impact of project activities.BCC ME will result in provision of suicide awareness education to more than 3000 adults and train over 200 adults annually and 600 Gatekeepers in programs serving youth. The implementation of the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) will result in screening, referral and treatment of youth in 18 new sites. Efforts to engage high risk 18-24 year olds will impact 200 youth over the project life.

The Caring About Lives in Maine project will support a strategic expansion of key priorities included in the Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program Plan. Funds will: 1) implement suicide prevention and early intervention strategies; 2) provide training and assistance to increase the capacity of schools and youth-serving organizations to identify youth at risk and link them to culturally competent helping resources; 3) assist colleges in learning about suicide prevention protocol development; and 4) continue collaboration to pilot the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) model of web-based outreach to high risk college students.

Community “Referral Networks” that identify and assist youth at risk for suicide will be strengthened or created between 11 high schools and community organizations including crisis services, substance abuse treatment and child and family behavioral health services. The selected high schools will implement the Maine Lifelines Program, a school-based suicide prevention program. Student Assistance Teams (SATs) in each school will implement use of an early identification Data Tickler System to record student risk factors and the effectiveness of interventions through the SAT process. Evaluation focuses on efficacy and sustainability of two key promising practices: full-day Gatekeeper Training and the Maine Lifelines Program.

Training and resources will be provided to key groups in direct contact with youth in a variety of settings including those working with youth in behavioral health, child welfare and foster care. The project will collaborate to adapt training programs with Native Americans and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). We will also partner with the Veterans Administration Suicide Prevention Program and other programs serving high risk youth in a variety of settings. Efforts will include innovative initiatives such as work in health literacy, working with youth in transition and development of materials for families of youth in the criminal justice system.

Additional objectives include enhancement of the MYSPP Steering Committee to broaden leadership in suicide prevention and integration of a sustainable suicide prevention component within state organizations. Data gathered will increase understanding of youth suicide in Maine.

The Louisiana Partnership for Youth Suicide Prevention (LPYSP) proposes to address one of the leading causes of death among LA?s adolescents and young adults: suicide. This initiative advances strategies of the LA S.T.A.R. Plan to strengthen public and private partnerships, cultivate community efforts, mobilize existing resources, expand gatekeeper training, increase awareness of youth suicide and prevention, to provide timely referral resources to families and survivors, to increase support groups for survivors, to strengthen linkages between crisis response teams. After receiving funding from the SAMHSA GLS Grant in 2006, the previously established Task Force transitioned into the LPYSP whose main aims were to promote suicide prevention activities in the hurricane impacted areas of LA.

Under the leadership of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Mental Health (LA DHH-OMH) this grant expands the youth suicide prevention efforts of the 2001 LA Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force across the entire state. LPYSP is comprised of a broad range of public and private partners. This group serves as the governing body to provide oversight, development, monitoring, and evaluation of program activities.

The project targets 15000 youth and young adults ages 10 to 24 years old, consisting of middle, high school, and college students and professionals (such as OMH, DOE, and 211 providers) that serve this population. A high priority of this program will be early intervention, prevention and assessment services to youth and young adults who are at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders that may lead to suicide or a suicide attempts. Through partnerships across systems, the integration of suicide prevention resources and services in schools, universities, juvenile justice, substance abuse and mental health programs that target at-risk youth populations will increase their competence and awareness of youth suicide risk.

Gatekeeper trainings will be provided to all above-mentioned professionals. A series of evidenced-based trainings for targeted agency gatekeepers will be provided statewide. The emergence of an ?Expert Trainers Team? will conduct a series of ASIST and SafeTALK trainings statewide. In addition, collaborative efforts between OBH, 211 service providers, TeenScreen, Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center, Mental HEalth America of Louisiana, Louisiana Federation For Children’s Mental HEalth, church and faith-based organizations will offer activities to teens and college students that include suicide risk/depression screening; gatekeeper trainings, peer helpers training; and stigma reduction and suicide awareness activities such as the annual Yellow Ribbon Media Campaign, Suicide Prevention Walk, and Youth Rally. These awareness weeks reach a total of 6000 youth, young adults and families in LA annually. Through the successful sustainability of 5 existing local coalitions and 5 new emerging local coalitions, the LPYSP will assist communities to develop competence related to suicide risk identification; create and/or improve improve local collaboration; and promote the coordination of culturally appropriate resources.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults (ages 10 – 24) in the Commonwealth. Kentucky currently has the tenth highest suicide rate in the nation. The purpose of the Suicide Prevention Efforts for Adolescents in Kentucky (SPEAK) project will be to further develop Kentucky’s prevention modalities and behavioral health services system to lessen the rate of attempted and completed suicides in Kentucky. Through this project, efforts will be focused on youth and young adults – accessing them through the educational system (middle/high schools and post secondary education) and on priority populations as identified by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, which includes youth in military families and Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) youth. There will be focused efforts on increasing the number of persons trained to identify and refer youth at risk for suicide, increase providers trained to assess, manage and treat at-risk youth effectively, and increase the number of at-risk youth identified, referred for and receiving behavioral health services. SPEAK will build on the accomplishments of Kentucky’s 2006 – 2010 SPYCE (Suicide Prevention in Youth: A Collaborative Effort) funded project.

As a result of raised awareness of youth suicide and prevention issues and efforts during the SPYCE project, Kentucky legislators, in 2010, passed legislation mandating annual suicide prevention training or information for all public middle and high school certified staff and school students annually. Kentucky is a pioneer in this area as very few other states have mandatory education for both staff and students; however, the legislature did not provide funding for an ongoing statewide delivery system for evidence-based training and information, school-based crisis planning, increased screening and referrals, or better access to effective behavioral health/suicide prevention resources and practices for at-risk students.

Building on SPYCE efforts, SPEAK will work Community Mental Health Centers, school districts and child/youth serving agencies within two geographic regions of the state that serve communities with a higher population of military families to build enhanced structures for regional delivery systems for training, crisis planning, screening/referrals, evidence-based practices and increased resources for at-risk students (including LGBT youth). These regions are Pennyrile, which serves the Fort Campbell Army base in Christian County and Lincoln Trail which serves the Fort Knox Army base in Hardin County. Kentucky is home to nearly 64,000 military personnel. One recent study of children in military families showed rates of emotional and behavioral difficulties at rates above national averages. Funds will be used to support the following objectives: Evidence-based suicide prevention training for providers serving youth; Service expansion; School and community based crisis prevention/intervention and postvention planning; and Increased public/private collaboration among youth-serving institutions and child serving agencies.

The Kentucky Initiative for Zero Suicides (KIZS) will provide safer suicide care services for youth and young adults ages 10 – 24 who are at a higher risk of suicide. Built on the foundation that suicide should be a never event among Kentucky youth, KIZS will use a comprehensive system of care approach, integrating best practices in suicide care and prevention, modeled after the U.S. Air Force Suicide Prevention Program and the Suicide Care in Systems Framework (Zero Suicide in Healthcare) report by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. This comprehensive approach will be implemented in the Adanta community mental health region (Region 14) initially and will then be expanded throughout the Commonwealth.

Zero Suicide in Systems of Care is both a philosophy and a care model. Three critical factors will lead to success: the belief and commitment that suicide can be eliminated in a population under care, by improving service access and quality and through continuous improvement (rendering suicide a never event for these populations); taking systematic steps across systems of care to create a culture that no longer finds suicide acceptable, set aggressive but achievable goals to eliminate suicide attempts and deaths among members, and organize service delivery and support accordingly; and the use of Evidence-Based Clinical Care Practice delivered through the system of care with a focus on productive patient/staff interactions.

One critical focus will be on enhancing suicide care services (screening, assessment, intervention and follow up) for youth and young adults with emotional disturbances or mental illness to create Suicide Safer Care Centers. KIZS recognizes the value of those with lived experience, individuals who have made suicide attempts, or have serious contemplated suicide, and will bring those voices to the forefront in developing suicide risk reduction and safe messaging approaches. Outreach will also target young Veterans and military families, transition-aged youth, youth involved in child-serving agencies such as juvenile justice and foster care, and youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Training and resources will be made available to providers of services to these special populations throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Focus will be on increasing awareness that suicide is a preventable public health problem in Kentucky communities, increasing knowledge of warning signs and behavioral clues and improve early identification of suicide risk, referral and follow up supports. Through the bridging of clinical competency in suicide care and increased suicide prevention awareness and help-seeking the KIZS aims toward substantially reducing suicide among youth and young adults by setting the aspirational goal of zero suicides for a Suicide Safer State in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The State of Kansas, through its agent, Headquarters, Inc., commonly known as Headquarters Counseling Center, proposes this initiative to increase and strengthen youth suicide prevention activities statewide, resulting in stronger linkages between youth settings and quality mental health care for suicidal youth between the ages of 10 and 24. The initiative promotes suicide prevention and intervention that enhances local and statewide identification and linkage that will highlight: 1) identifying at-risk youth and assessing access barriers within youth settings; 2) conducting evidence-based prevention interventions within each youth setting to enhance surveillance, linkage and self-referral; 3) promoting the viable connection of the young person to crisis line support and psychiatric care; 4) increasing the availability of mental health professionals trained in reducing suicide risk through evidence-based interventions; and 5) successfully retaining the identified young person in mental health treatment, to the point that meaningful suicide risk reduction has occurred.

A state coordinating and resource center and website for youth suicide prevention will be developed.  Capacity will be added to the Lifeline service in Kansas. The existing state suicide prevention committee will be expanded in representation and scope, and regional suicide prevention coalitions will be formed, to enhance youth suicide prevention. Consumers, including youth 10-24, families, mental health advocates, and survivors of suicide loss will be included in planning, information enhancement, and reducing barriers to obtaining help. Information exchange will be facilitated by the website and regional meetings. Locations for youth site mental health provider partnerships will reflect the geographic and cultural diversity of Kansas. During the first four months of the grant, an ASIST Training for Trainers course will be offered to at least two representatives of each of the six mental health regions of the State.

This project will also promote a data-driven evaluation, strategies for expanding suicide prevention over time, and dissemination of project findings. Measurable objectives include indices of participation (youth trained, youth served, website hits, coalition attendance, diversity representation), changes post-training in willingness to seek help from an adult during a suicidal crisis, reduction of barriers, youth connecting with treatment, youth retained in treatment, reduction of actual suicide cognitions, and improved perceptions of the mental health experience by youth, families, and youth settings.

The Iowa Department of Public Health will reduce suicides, suicidal behavior and suicide risk among Iowa estimated 552,000 youth and young adults aged 10 to 24 years. This will be accomplished by: (1) implementing evidence-based screening/assessment for suicide risk at all IDPH substance abuse treatment programs and all public middle and high schools; (2) increasing referrals to mental health and co-occurring services; and, (3) reaching youth using social media. Iowa Youth and Young Adult Suicide Prevention Program (Y-YASP program) is grounded in recovery principles and believes that all youth can heal. It will build on the foundation of Iowa prior efforts to implement statewide suicide prevention and early intervention strategies. The YYASP Program will collaborate with numerous public and private partners including the SAMHSA funded SAT-ED Adolescent Grant (Families in FOCUS) and Access to Recovery programs, the Iowa Co-occurring Recovery Network, the Department of Education, and the current Garrett Lee Smith grantee at the University of Iowa. Project goals: (1) Insure suicide prevention best practices are integrated into Iowa youth and young adult serving programs; (2) Providers screen/assess all youth and young adults who seek substance abuse treatment for suicide risk; (3) At-Risk for Middle and High School Educators gatekeeper program is implemented in all middle/junior high and high schools; (4) Trauma informed care and other evidence-based practice trainings for providers who work with those at risk of suicide and with co-occurring disorders is expanded; and (5) More youth and young adults access suicide prevention services as a result a media campaign emphasizing social media.The screening and assessment strategies to be used are the Patient Healthcare Questionnaire-9 Modified for Teens (PHQ-9 Modified) and Kognito At-Risk evidence based gatekeeper trainings. The PHQ-9 Modified will be implemented in all IDPH substance abuse treatment provider agencies statewide. Providers will be extensively trained and given ongoing technical assistance. An estimated 14,000 youth and young adults aged 10 to 24 who seek treatment at IDPH a statewide substance abuse treatment provider agencies will be screened/assessed and referred appropriately each project year for a total of 42,000 over the projects lifetime. The At-Risk for Middle and High School Educators evidence-based training will be implemented in all Iowa public middle/junior high and high schools. Clinicians, educators and other staff will be trained to make referrals to treatment and recovery services. An estimated 252,700 students will be served years 2-3 and 288,200 unduplicated students over the Y-YASP Program lifetime.The Iowa Department of Public Health will contract with the University of Iowa to conduct evaluation activities and assist with national Cross-Site evaluation requirements.

The Youth Suicide Prevention Program is coordinated by the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH). Initially, IDPH decided to approach the problem of youth suicide through enhancing the existing system of mental health screening programs in schools. This was accomplished by working with partners at the local level who had a history of providing mental health screening services in their communities with one or more school screening sites. IDPH provides funds to 7 different TeenScreen programs that offer services to over 45 school sites. Through marketing, presentations and meetings, programs expanded their services to more schools and students, and screened over 2,500 students during FY10. Agencies housing the TeenScreen programs vary from community non-profit organizations (United Way and Siouxland Human Investment Partnership), to local school districts, and two regional educational agencies. Each program uses different community resources to meet the needs of program coordination, screening, mental health interview staff and referrals to mental health providers. Programs enter their own EIRF data for the cross-site evaluation into an on-line survey monkey system, which is then converted into the Macro system by the grant evaluator. Programs are also responsible for hosting an Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) training, promoting and distributing Primary Care Toolkits to primary care clinics, and distributing or training school staff with the More Than Sad DVD training series. A significant infrastructure-building activity conducted in 2010 occurred when IDPH joined 3 other states (NE, MO, and IN) to form a 4-state collaborative to bring the SPRC AMSR Train-the-Trainer training to the Midwest (Omaha). This collaborative led by Nebraska, shared resources to have 4-5 mental health clinicians from each state trained to provide the AMSR training in their home states. Iowa will provide the training to over 300 clinicians by May. The project epidemiologist provides data on youth suicide attempts and deaths as requested by local entities. In addition to the SAMHSA cross site evaluation requirements, the local evaluation team has simplified the process of collecting data for the cross site evaluation, provided individual program interviews to collect data important to each site, and implemented annual project and program evaluations. Local evaluation also includes assessment of familiesâ€‖ satisfaction with the referral process from screening to mental health providers. In the projectâ€‖s no-cost extension period, we are implementing initiatives approved from our carry-over request to reach more youth. These activities include: providing AMSR training to mental health providers, promoting the TeenScreen Primary Care screening instrument and the Primary Care Toolkit; training college faculty and students through Kognito’s At-Risk web-based training program; and promoting the AFSP More than Sad DVD series to high school student and staff and the AFSP Truth About Suicide DVD to college students.       

The Indiana Cares Youth Suicide Prevention Project is funded by a 3-year Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant under the Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention Program. It is a project of the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Behavioral Health and Family Studies Institute. It is a sister project of, and builds on the work of, the Indiana Suicide Prevention Coalition.

The core of the Indiana Cares Project is the Youth Suicide Prevention Resource Center. The Resource Center provides assistance and resources to individuals, communities, and agencies across Indiana to prevent suicide among youth ages 10-24. The Resource Center also coordinates the following activities:

• Building the capacity of youth serving systems to reduce the incidence and effects of suicide by targeting the youth serving systems to a) Provide evidence-based suicide prevention and intervention training, along with education about building resilience in youth and families, and b) Develop and institutionalize policies and protocols aimed at suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.
• Providing mini grants to communities/organizations. Priority is given to those serving higher risk populations such as African American, Latino/Latinas, LGBT, rural, incarcerated populations.
• Piloting the Connect! Project, a comprehensive, community-based approach to preventing youth suicide that involves getting all youth serving systems working together (with similar training and protocols) to prevent and respond to youth suicide.
• Helping make suicide prevention efforts around the state more culturally competent through cultural competency workshops across the state and through two specific initiatives: African American Suicide Prevention Initiative and Latino Suicide Prevention Initiative.
• Training mental health and health care providers around the state in the CALM program (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means).
• Conducting two youth suicide prevention-related conferences during the three year grant.
• Raising awareness across the state about suicide prevention via exhibits and conference presentations, a resource library, a website, a social network (“ning”), resource sheets on topics and populations at risk of suicide, and tailored consultation;
• Supporting and building the state network of local suicide prevention councils/coalitions.