The following inormation is an edited version of the stated goals of all 50 states when it comes to their suicide intervention goals for the new year, 2012. The editing was done by CATS with an attention to duplication, specificity to one state and value of the idea for adaptation by other states. CATS has also put in bold, those ideas it thinks has particularly noteworthy merit. With all this in mine, we offer the information to be of assistance to all those interested and involved in trying to be part of the solution to the problem. It is…
C.A.T.S. State Suicide Prevention Plans, Summaries
Alabama
Alabama will maintain web pages on prevention, distribute a prevention brochure, provide a crisis hotline, hold a media event, provide a training course at police academies.
Alaska
Alaska is focusing on statewide training of trainers while increasing the capacity of schools and youth organizations to implement this and other suicide prevention curricula.
Arizona
Arizona’s will promote public education campaigns for youth suicide prevention.
Arkansas
Arkansas will also work with schools to appoint Parent Facilitators who can work with parents and communities to prevent suicides, promote anti-bullying programs, and raise awareness about the connection between youth suicides and drug and alcohol use.
California
California’s approach to prevention will include positive youth development, mental health best practices, provider screening and referrals, and an emphasis on the needs of foster youth. As part of a larger project with the California Adolescent Health Collaborative for the development of adolescent health indicators, the state will identify areas with high and areas with low suicide rates.
Colorado
Statewide distribution of community grants for suicide prevention.
Connecticut
Through a variety of case management programs, the Department of Public Health will identify perinatal depression. A train-the-trainer curriculum will be used to increase understanding among non-mental health state employees of child and adolescent development, including training for mental health clinicians in school-based health centers will also be provided.
Delaware
Delaware will focus on the identification and treatment of behavior problems through the Early Comprehensive Childhood Systems initiative.
Florida
Through a comprehensive school health services project, school nurses and social workers will provide education about suicide prevention, as well as referrals for mental health services. . The Florida Suicide Prevention Task Force will hold its fourth Suicide Prevention Symposium and the sixth annual Suicide Prevention Day.
Georgia
Georgia will work with the state’s injury prevention program and Suicide Advisory Committee on prevention initiatives. The state will also provide staff education on suicide prevention and conduct surveillance through implementation of the Behavior and Risk in Teens (BART) Survey.
Hawaii
The state’s Suicide Prevention Task Force (SPTF) will raise awareness about youth suicide and about the connection between mental health and substance abuse. to create a faith-based community outreach program, and collaborate with the Hawaii SPEAR Foundation to organize the second annual Statewide Suicide Prevention Conference.
Idaho
A combination of in-person and videoconference trainings in suicide prevention will be offered with funding available statewide for individuals to become QPR (question, persuade, and refer) trainers The Alliance will also launch a public awareness campaign, promote school-based initiatives, assess data, and organize activities for Suicide Prevention Month.
Indiana
Indiana will provide technical assistance to individuals, communities, and the state’s 12 local and regional suicide prevention councils.
Iowa
As part of its State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention Grant, Iowa will be organizing a suicide prevention symposium.
Kansas
Technical assistance will be provided to support the development of Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention programs in schools.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment will also promote training programs for mental health clinicians. A telemedicine network will continue to link schools to mental health services. Adolescent health staff have been tasked to explore the connections among mental health, bullying prevention, and substance use prevention
Kentucky
The Kentucky Suicide Prevention Group (KSPG), located within the state’s Cabinet of Health Services, will be organizing a series of focus groups for suicide survivors, pursuing media opportunities to increase public understanding of suicide, producing a bimonthly newsletter, exploring ways to reach young people with prevention information via Internet sites such as My Space and You Tube, and implementing three suicide prevention programs – Signs of Suicide (SOS), Reconnecting Youth (RY), and Coping and Support Training (CAST) –
Louisiana
Louisian will continue to promote schools’ use of the Columbia University Teen Screen Program to identify youth who are at risk of suicide, and will also hold leadership meetings for its regional coalitions in order to create toolkits, resource guides, and school prevention plans.
Maine
Maine will continue to offer train-the-trainer sessions, and will hold a suicide prevention conference and the state will continue to promote its 24-hour crisis hotline.
Maryland
Governor’s Interagency Workgroup on Youth Suicide Prevention, will organize a statewide conference on adolescent suicide prevention, implement prevention programs in schools, and conduct media campaigns.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts will finish revisions to its suicide prevention plan, deliver prevention trainings to program managers at adolescent residential facilities, and provide best practice information to school-based health centers.
Michigan
Michigan will develop action steps for the implementation of its suicide prevention plan, support local and regional suicide prevention coalitions, increase participation in its suicide prevention symposia, and collaborate with the Department of Education to create voluntary suicide prevention guidelines for schools.
Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will continue to promote mental health screening, access to services, and crisis intervention for youth.
Mississippi
The Mississippi State Department of Health and other members of the Mississippi Youth Suicide Prevention Council will hold a youth suicide prevention conference.
Missouri
Referrals for mental health services are provided through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services toll-free telephone line for maternal and child health care.
Montana
The Montana Family and Child Health Bureau will continue to collect data from local Fetal, Infant, and Child Mortality Review teams and to provide information about suicide prevention interventions to the affected communities.
Nebraska
Nebraska will continue to implement the Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS) program and Teen Screen.
Nevada
The Injury Prevention Program will maintain its collaboration with the Office of Suicide Prevention.
New Hampshire
The Adolescent Health Coordinator will work with community health centers to expand screening for adolescent depression and will continue to participate in meetings of the Youth Suicide Prevention Assembly (YSPA). The YSPA plans to coordinate suicide awareness events, distribute fact sheets and other informational materials, and promote suicide prevention trainings by community health centers and the Samaritans. Garrett Lee Smith grant.
New Jersey
New Jersey’s Department of Health and Senior Services will develop plans to prevent suicide, as well as other sudden, traumatic deaths to children.
New Mexico
The New Mexico Department of Health’s Office of School and Adolescent Health (OSAH) will begin a statewide telehealth program for school-based health centers to enhance the mental health services available to youth. Child Fatality Review teams.
New York
The School-Based Mental Health Center Program also does a mental health assessment that includes an evaluation of suicide risk. The program provides referrals and crisis intervention visits when needed.
North Carolina
North Carolina will continue to provide suicide data and to supply workshop presenters to local communities. It will offer Living Works trainings.
North Dakota
MCH-funded services such as WIC and Family Planning will also distribute suicide prevention information.
Ohio
A report on teen suicide and youth mental health issues will be produced and distributed to health care providers and educators.
Oklahoma
Training for nurses will be ongoing. . The fifth annual suicide prevention conference will take place, and the MCH program will work with the Council to develop a referral process for individuals at risk for suicide.
Oregon
Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act regional sites will make a determination about using the Air Force Model for worksite suicide prevention with 18 to 24 year olds Two suicide prevention conferences will be held in northeast and southern Oregon. Three counties will hold trainings for mental health clinicians. The Youth Suicide Prevention program will continue to promote implementation of the RESPONSE program and ASIST trainings, expand the number of Question, Persuade, and Respond (QPR) trainers, provide technical assistance to local coalitions and staff support to a statewide coalition, evaluate youth suicide prevention programs, and present on suicide information and data.
Pennsylvania
The state is also planning activities for Suicide Prevention Awareness Week.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s Division of Community, Family Health and Equity will continue to support the Youth Action Research program and school-based health centers to increase adolescent involvement in health policy and access to health care. The Division will also lead the state’s suicide prevention task force, participate in the Child Death Review Team, and implement ParentLinkRI, an online resource directory.
South Carolina
The state’s suicide prevention website will be finalized.
South Dakota
The state will also train facilitators of suicide survivor support groups and develop web pages for youth to be posted on the state’s suicide prevention website.
Tennessee
Adolescent health guides with information about the warning signs of suicide will be distributed statewide in both English and Spanish. Youth suicide prevention fact sheets and resource directories will also be distributed to local health departments.
Texas
Texas will support a variety of work groups that focus on suicide prevention, including the Texas Suicide Prevention Community Network and the Texas Suicide Prevention Council. Support will also be provided to Community Mental Health Suicide Prevention projects. Policy recommendations will be developed, and the integration of mental health into primary care settings will continue.
Utah
The Children’s Mental Health Promotion Specialist will participate in the Suicide Prevention Council and the Child Fatality Review Committee and work with the Violence and Injury Prevention Program to access suicide data. Suicide prevention trainings will be provided based on the results of the Utah Department of Health’s Professional Mental Health Provider Training Needs Assessment.
Vermont
Suicide prevention activities that will include infrastructure building with the Vermont Youth Suicide Prevention Coalition, a statewide media campaign with the United Way. The state will also review suicide attempt and completion data and follow up on the 2008 Poisoning Prevention Symposium, which provided information on the extent to which poisoning is a mechanism for suicide.
Virginia
The DIVP will also continue to work with James Madison University regarding the mental health needs of college students.
Washington
Implementation of the state’s Injury & Violence Prevention Guide will continue.
West Virginia
The West Virginia Council for the Prevention of Suicide will work to reduce the stigma associated with seeking and receiving mental health services, reduce access to lethal means, provide support to suicide survivors, promote support for suicide prevention among providers, and improve public awareness and understanding of suicide.
Wisconsin
It will provide analyses of suicide data to local health departments and work with Child Death Review teams. Kenosha County will continue to pursue a three-year project to expand risk assessment in schools, implement a referral system, and increase mental health services.
Wyoming
The MFH section will work with Coordinated School Health Programs to promote suicide prevention and provide grants for public health nursing to county health departments.