Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe

Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Mental Health Services will partner with 4 youth serving programs to expand the mental health screening, referrals and treatment for youth ages ten to twenty four who are at risk for suicide in Akwesasne. We will work with the local school district where we already have 2 school based satellite mental health clinics, Akwesasne Girls and Boys club, division of Community and Family Service and the Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Programs to expand our screening and treatment capacity. Youth and parents/guardians who consent to completing a screening tool will be given results of their screening and offered services. We provide training in youth mental health issues, suicide prevention, intervention and postvention to the school staff, agency personnel, youth and their families using trainings such as Question, Persuade, Refer, Connect and Youth Mental Health First Aid. Expansion of behavioral health staff will also be a priority. We will hire an additional therapist, youth care coordinator, traditional support worker and increase psychiatric prescribing ability. Training of behavioral health staff in effective screening and treatment of youth who are at risk of suicide will increase our expertise and capacity to save lives and reduce the trauma that occurs in our small community when there is an unexpected youth suicide in Akwesasne.