Nevada Department of Health and Human Services

Nevada has continually had one of the ten highest youth suicide rates in the nation. A System of Care for Youth Suicide Prevention in Nevada supports, enhances and expands suicide prevention efforts with youth ages 10-24 in three regions of Nevada (Clark County, Washoe County and the Rural Counties) by implementing goals of the Nevada Suicide Prevention Plan and building on successes of current youth suicide prevention programs in Southern Nevada.

For 15 to 24 year old Nevadans, suicide is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14. The focus of this project, which is administered through the Nevada Office of Suicide Prevention, is to incorporate several existing suicide prevention efforts targeting the mental health issues of teens and their families into a comprehensive and collaborative system of care approach. The intention is to implement and expand the pilot project in Clark County into a more comprehensive and sustainable system of suicide prevention, disseminate information from the pilot project statewide, and implement a utilization-focused evaluation system to inform decision making and bring this public health crisis under control.

Nevada’s Youth Suicide Prevention Program utilizes the management and leadership of the following important groups: an Administrative Committee consisting of representatives from the Nevada Office of Suicide Prevention, various State agencies, the Statewide Behavior Health Consortium; and three locally driven and very active children’s mental health consortia consisting of parents, child welfare services, mental health professionals, school personnel and sub grantees. The Office of Suicide Prevention and local consortia will work together to build upon existing infrastructure where suicide prevention is a key component to achieve the following:

Goal I. Nevada will strengthen its comprehensive statewide Suicide Prevention Plan using a quality improvement process derived from lessons learned in prior suicide prevention efforts and continue to accomplish youth-focused goals that increase awareness that suicide is preventable and decrease suicidal behaviors.

Goal II. Nevada will improve local suicide prevention planning/services in its largest community (Clark County) while developing and implementing a local suicide prevention plan in its second largest community (Washoe County). In addition to Gatekeeper Training and screening, text messaging will be implemented as a unique method of increasing youth awareness and encouraging help-seeking behavior.

Goal III. Nevada will support stakeholders in at least two of Nevada’s rural communities and partner to develop, implement and evaluate local suicide prevention plans.

Goal IV. Nevada will continue to evaluate youth suicide prevention plan and programs to improve training, policy, and community collaboration.