Pueblo San Felipe

The Pueblo of San Felipe GLS Tribal Youth Suicide initiative KEYWAH III (Katishtya Embraces Youth Wellness And Hope III) will build on and expand the work of the previous GLS grant initiatives in the community. The purpose is to expand suicide prevention and early intervention strategies in schools, tribal courts, and the tribal behavioral health program, in order to: (1) increase the number of youth-serving organizations able to identify and work with youth at risk of suicide; (2) increase the capacity of clinical service providers to assess, manage, and treat youth at risk of suicide; (3) improve the continuity of care and follow-up of youth identified as at risk for suicide, including those who have been discharged from emergency department and inpatient psychiatric units; and (4) develop infrastructure to sustain & expand programming beyond grant funding. These goals will be accomplished through school-wide prevention programming, universal screening of all students accessing primary care at the School Based Health Center, referral to clinical services for those at risk of suicide, training of gatekeepers (e.g., school staff, teachers, tribal law enforcement) and other child-serving providers on Mental Health First Aid, training primary care providers on Zero Suicide, training clinicians on CBT-SP, and ongoing use of data for continuous quality improvement. The target population is San Felipe youth 10-24 years old at risk for suicide. Over the past 10 years, suicide prevention has become a core priority for the Pueblo of San Felipe, with efforts aimed at implementing the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention Goal 8 (promote suicide prevention as a core component of health care services) and Goal 9 (promote and implement effective clinical and professional practices for assessing and treating those identified as being at risk for suicidal behaviors). Although tribal leadership has consistently supported suicide prevention programming in the schools, loss of life due to suicide remains a significant challenge. A recent suicide of an 11- year-old boy enrolled at the San Felipe Elementary School, for instance, highlighted the gaps in collaboration between the Bureau of Indian Education (who runs the elementary school) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (law enforcement). Developing greater collaboration through review of policies and procedures is critical, as is continuing to expand awareness and programming beyond behavioral health providers to other child-serving entities such as Family Services (child welfare/foster care), tribal law enforcement and the schools. KEYWAH III, in alignment and support of the National Tribe Behavioral Health Agenda (TBHA), will, therefore, continue to build and implement strategies where youth at risk for suicide are connected to protective factors and culturally-based supports in the San Felipe community. The unduplicated number of youth served annually will be 225, with 900 served over the life of the grant.