Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Utah will develop and implement the Utah Zero Suicide Project in order to strive towards the aspirational goal of suicide as a never event for people in care. The purpose of the project is to reduce non-fatal suicide attempts and suicide deaths for adults 25+ in Utah. We propose to do this through the following goals:

· Increase access to and quality of physical and behavioral health care for those at risk for suicide
· Improve rapid follow up and care transition services for individuals at risk for suicide statewide
· Reduce access to lethal means among those identified at risk for suicide.

The Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) is committed to the adoption of the ‘Zero Suicide’ approach to behavioral health care and promotion of the approach within all health and behavioral health care settings statewide. The provision of follow-up and care coordination services for individuals discharged from emergency departments and inpatient hospital settings following a suicidal crisis will be piloted by two Local Mental Health Authorities (LMHAs), in an urban and rural community. This project will result in the improved ability of physical health providers, behavioral health providers, first responders, and other community and clinical service providers to respond to individuals at risk for suicide through assessment, intervention, and effective clinical care through a series of training initiatives. Annual Zero Suicide Leadership Summit, clinical training on safety planning/crisis response planning, screening and assessment of suicide risk training using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, Counseling on Access to Lethal Means and other lethal means restriction activities, Brief-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention clinician training, Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality clinician training, develop and distribute model follow-up and care transition protocols that outline best practices for ensuring patient safety for individuals at risk for suicide and best practices for communicating and referring between medical providers and behavioral health organizations; develop online enduring Continuing Medical Education training on best practices for follow-up and care transitions based on model protocols; and develop and train on suicide prevention/intervention training for Certified Peer Support Specialists. Utah has a demonstrated need to improve the skills, training, and support of the workforce to effectively respond to someone at risk for suicide and these initiatives will result in that improvement. The Utah Zero Suicide Project will result in a coordinated, sustained effort to help our state substantially reduce the suicide rates for those in care.