Rhode Island Department of Health Violence & Injury Prevention

The Rhode Island Department of Health’s Violence & Injury Prevention Program proposes continued implementation of the Rhode Island Youth Suicide Prevention Project (RIYSPP) to maintain and expand an innovative, comprehensive, and coordinated youth suicide prevention program for RI youth ages 10-24 that builds upon the successes of the past five years. The public health approach presented in this application is informed by the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and the Social Ecological Model (SEM). The Social Ecological Suicide Prevention Model is a four-tier framework that guides the planned activities of the RIYSPP, with corresponding evidence-based suicide prevention strategies implemented statewide and at community, relational and individual levels. Goal 1: Provide early intervention and assessment services and timely referrals to appropriate community-based mental health services for youth at risk for suicidal behaviors by enhancing the current Suicide Prevention Initiative (SPI) and evaluating annually. Goal 2. Train professional staff and individuals in diverse community settings to identify youth who are at risk for suicide and evaluate annually. Goal 3. Work with child-serving professionals and providers to ensure they are trained in youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies and timely response systems, including SAMHSA-sponsored technology and training resources, and evaluate annually. Goal 4. Work with external partners to provide post-suicide intervention services, care, and information to individuals, programs, organizations and statewide systems, solicit input from individuals with lived experiences, and evaluate annually. Goal 5. Conduct a broad public awareness campaign to improve the public’s knowledge of mental health and awareness of available suicide prevention resources in RI. Goal 6. Collect and analyze data on statewide youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies to monitor program effectiveness throughout the 5-year grant cycle. The unduplicated number of individuals projected to be served annually over the project period is estimated at 6,000 individuals ages 10-24 or 30,000 throughout the lifetime of the project. The numbers are based on individuals directly served by project activities that link school districts and the RI juvenile justice system with community- and hospital-based mental health services. The estimated number of individuals served does not include individuals who will benefit from project activities through gatekeeper trainings, technical assistance/support from RIYSPP funded staff or the statewide media campaign. Over the past 5 years, the RIYSPP has demonstrated the ability to leverage support and resources from other state agencies, private/public organizations, and community stakeholders to meet the stated goals and objectives of SAMHSA’s grant funding. The RIYSPP will build on and expand this work to meet the six goals presented above.